REV. W. A. JARREL. 



"THE GOSPEL IN WATER," 



OR 



CAMPBELLISM ; 



BEING AN 



EXPOSITION AND REFUTATION OF CAMPBELLISM, AND 
AN EXPOSITION AND A VINDICATION OF THE 
GOSPEL AND THE NEW TESTAMENT 
CHURCH. 

By REV. W. A. JARREL, 

Author of "Old Testament Ethics Vindicated," ' Liberty of Conscience and the 
Baptists," "Feet Washing, 1 ' "Union Meetings," "Election," Etc., Etc. 




"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the 
gift of God: not of works."— Christ, through Paul. Eph. 2:8, 9. 

"But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gespel unto you 
than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed."— Gal. 1: 8. 



PUBLISHED BY THE 
NATIONAL BAPTIST PUBLISHING CO., 
ST, LOUIS, MO. 



y 3a 



Entered According to Act of Congress, in the year 1886, by 

EEV. W. A. JAEREL, 
in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 

All rights reserved. 




INTRODUCTION. 



Alexander Campbell wrote: fc< I am bold, therefore, 
to affirm, that every one who, in the belief of what 
the Apostle spoke, was immersed, did, in the very in- 
stant in which he was put under the water receive the 
forgiveness of his sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit. 
If so, then who will not concur with me in saying that 
Christian immersion is the gospel in water." — Chris- 
tian Baptist, p. 417. As this is the summum bonum 
of Campbellism it stands as the title to this book. 

That there are Christian people in Campbellite 
churches the author rejoices to know. 

But this is due to the gospel as preached by other 
than Campbellites, as to the gospel as preached by 
only a very few preachers, who, though among Camp- 
bellites, are not of them, or, to reading the Bible or 
the gospel in some other non-Campbellite book. The 
comparatively few Christians who are in Campbellite 
churches ought to immediately withdraw from them 
and enter the New Testament Church. 

Campbellism, in its fundamentals, is, to-day, as anti- 
scriptural as it was in the days of A. Campbell. 



iv 



INTRODUCTION. 



Though the author has written this book in only 
pity and love he is certain that the Campbellite pulpit 
and the Campbellite press and some of the Campbell- 
ite laymen, will find the dictionaries unable to supply 
them with terms of denunciation. He can but reply: 
1 'Am I therefore your enemy, because I tell you the 
truth?" 1 'For if I yet pleased men, I should not be 
the servant of Christ."— Gal. 4:16; 1:10. 

Campbellism, having no Scriptural support, adopts 
denunciation. All who have exposed Campbellism 
have suffered denunciatory persecution. Dr. Jeter, 
for exposing Campbellism, was thus denounced by A. 
Campbell: "There are not a few things in science* 
learning, and in religion, which Mr. Jeter will not un- 
derstand till he get another head or heart. We are, 
indeed, sorry for his sake, that we cannot create the 
one or the other." "He has too recklessly dealt in 
assertions, and even criticisms, for which he is not 
qualified, either by nature, by grace, or by education." 
"Judge of the fidelity, honesty, or capacity of Mr. 
Jeter." — Campbellism Re-Examined, pp. 7, 9. 

As to Dr. A. P. Williams' Book on Campbellism, 
Mr. Lard wrote : "Allow me to warn all our brethren 
against either buying or reading a certain cold, mean 
book purported to have been written by one A. P. 



INTRODUCTION. 



V 



Williams, of Missouri. It is a sin to encourage the 
book, and no credit to any one to notice the man." — 
Ray-Lucas Debate, p. 225. 

Not having time to count the denunciations and vul- 
garisms in Hand's so-called reply to Dr. Kay, I quote 
from another reviewer of it: "The word falsehood, 
false or falsely is used 54 times. The word lie or liar 
is used 10 times. And then many of the following 
classic ( ! ) expressions have been often repeated : 
'Virus of vindictive misrepresentation,' 'enormity of 
his iniquity,' 'slanderous thing,' 'monstrosity,' 'iniqui- 
tous concern,' . . . 'satanic paternity,' 'the devil's 
Text Book,' 'unblushing falsehoods,' . . .'whopper,' 
. . . 'unmitigated falsehoods made of whole cloth,' 
'base slander,' . . . 'buzzards' glory,' 'carrion,' 'tit- 
bits of carrion,' 'genuine carrion,' 'choice bits of car- 
rion,' 'rich banquet of carrion,' 'as basely false and 
slanderous as the devil could desire,' "etc. As exam- 
ples, see pp. 4, 5, 6,11,12, 13, 14, 78, 87, 245, of 
"Text Booh Exposed" All this and much more of 
the same kind, in a volume of but 245 pages ! 

In my hearing, Mr. T. W. Caskey, a leading Camp- 
bellite preacher, publicly denounced the "Text Book" 
as being fuller of "lies" than any book he "ever 
saw." 



vi 



INTRODUCTION. 



Said the Apostolic Times : 6 ' The right way to deal 
with Ray is to exhibit to the people, where he makes 
a noise, the meanness of his character, as shown by 
the contents of his book." — Apost. Times, Nov. 18, 
1869 — quoted in Ray-Lucas Debate, p. 224. 

For an article, in The Standard, of Chicago, on 
Campbellism, G. S. Bailey, D. D., was denounced by 
The Standard, of Cincinnati. 

So has Prof. Whitsitt, of the Southern Baptist The- 
ological Seminary, been denounced, by Campbellites, 
for proving that Campbellism is Mormonism. 

N~o one who, by voice or pen, has exposed Camp- 
bellism, has escaped this persecution. 

This is but an acknowledgment that Campbellism is 
indefensible. It illustrates that "as then he that was 
born after the flesh persecuted him that was born 
after the Spirit." — Gal. 4:29. May we have the 
grace to pray: "Father forgive them ; for they know 
not what they do." — Luke 23 :34. 

This book is not designed to do the hopelessly blind 
any good. It is designed for seekers after the truth 
and to give Baptists a clearer, more comprehensive 
view of the great plan of salvation and of the poi- 
sonous nature of Romanism, from the Pope down to 
the most obscure Campbellite. 



INTRODUCTION . 



Vll 



The author calls especial attention to the book as not 
only controversial ; but as such an exposition of the 
law and the gospel as is adapted to — under the bless- 
ings of tne Holy Spirit, to Whom it is committed — 
feed the Christian, arouse and save the hypocrite, con- 
vict the sinner, lead him to Jesus and produce gen- 
nine revivals. 

In our time there are so many — so-called — "evan- 
gelists" (God forbid that the author should reflect on 
the true evangelists, ) whom the people run wild after, 
who preach "only believe, only believe," — not preach- 
ing the repentance which humbles the sold at the foot 
of the throne and prepares it to believe, which is fill- 
ing our churches with hypocrites, and which is, prac- 
tically, Campbellism without the water, that just such 
a book as this is sorely needed. 

The author has written this book in prayer, with the 

feeling that he must meet the Great Judge. To the 

author, its writing has been a spiritual feast ; often 

making him feel: — 

u Airazing grace how sweet the sound, 
That saved a wretch like me," etc. 

Bible quotations, in this book, are nearly all from 

the Eevised Version. 

With prayer that this book be a blessing to his chil- 



Vlll 



INTRODUCTION. 



dren, to the Church, to many Christians, of all denom- 
inations and to the world, the author sends it on its 
mission of love. W. A. Jarrel. 

Dallas, Texas, Aug., 1886. 



INDEX AND TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



CHAPTEK I. 

The Campbellite Church developed out of Stonism. — p. 1 — 
26. Stonism and affusion for baptism. — p. 2. Stonism and 
infant rantism. — p 3. Infant rantism has no recognition at the 
u bar of Biblical criticism." — p. 3. Stonism and Church gov- 
ernment. — p 4. Stonism and baptismal regeneration. — p. 5. 
Baptismal regeneration and Presbyterianism — p. 5 -20 What 
is baptismal regeneration. -p. 11 — 13. Infant rantism and in- 
fant damnation. — p. 6, 7, 9, 14, 17. Influence of Baptists towards 
a converted Church membership and a pure Christianity.— p. 
15—17. Stonism and Campbellism the same.— Chapter 2, p. 
33-34, p. 21, 24—26. Stonism infidelity upon the Deity and the 
Atonement.— p 21—24. Part the Campbells took in the ori- 
gin of the Campbellite Church.— p. 27—32. 

CHAPTER II. 

Campbellism began as did Stonism. — p. 33, 34 Campbellism 
began as an experiment and a project.— p. 35 Campbellism 
began with infant rantism, the foundation of the Pedo-baptist 
temple, ^fruitless speculations, " etc. — p. 37, 38. The Camp- 
bellite Church began with repudiating and scoffing at Bible and 
other benevolent societies, etc.— p. 38 — 47. 

CHAPTEK III. 

A. Campbell's baptism.— p. 48, 49. A Campbell and his party 
never Baptists, but only apostate Presbyterians.— p. 50, 51, 61, 
63. A. Campbell and his sect crept into the Red Stone Associa- 
tion by presenting a " written declaration of" faith, which they 
did not believe. — p 52-54. The Campbellite Church excluded 
from Baptist fellowship.— p. 54-60 Campbell's pretended relish 
of martyrdom. — p 63, 64 

CHAPTER IY. 

Marriage of Stonism to Campbellism.— p. 65-67, 
CHAPTER Y. 

The names Campbellite and Campbellism the only right 
names.— p. 68-91, 



X 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER VI. 

The Campbellite Church 1800 years too young to be regarded 
as the Church of Christ.— p. 92-96. Date of the birth of the 
Campbellite Church. — p. 92. 

CHAPTER VII. 

The Campbellite Church originated in the wrong geographi- 
cal location to be regarded as the Church of Christ. — p 97, 98. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Christianity, having done without the Campbellite Church, 
1800 years, a demonstration that it is no benefit, but a hin- 
drance to Christianity. — p. 99-103. Campbellism another sect add- 
ed to the babel of sectarian confusion. — p. 100-103. 

CHAPTER IX, 

The Campbellite Church founded upon the infidel assump- 
tion upon which nearly all sects are founded — viz., the harlotry 
of the Blessed Bride or Church of Christ. — p. 104-144. What is 
a Church. — p. 104-110. Distinction between the Church and 
the kingdom; they are practically one.— p. 107-110. There is no 
invisible church.— p. 106, 110. Church Succession.— p. 111-130, 
Denial of Succession the origin of sectarianism. — p. 132-136. 
Campbellites flatly contradict Jesus Christ. — p. 138-141. A 
Campbell regarded as the Messiah. — p. 137-139, especially, p. 138. 

CHAPTER X. 

The Campbellite position refuted as to when the gospel was 
first preached and as to when the Church was organized and the 
kingdom set up. What is the gospel. -p. 140 - 145. The gospel 
preached in Old Testament times. — p. 145 — 148. The gospel 
preached between the time of Christ's birth and "Pentecost." — 
p. 148 159. John's and Christ's ministry identically, the gospel 
ministry and their baptism identically Christian. — p. 148-159. 
Objections vs. the baptism of John being Christian baptism - p. 
150-155, 158. The New Testament records the gospel, under the 
NTew r Age, as beginning with John's ministry. — p. 159-162. 
Christ preached the gospel. --p. 162-166. Objections. — p. 165-166. 
The kingdom and the Church set up before^Pentecost." — p. 166- 
174. Objection.— p. 173, 174. When the kingdom and the church 
were set up. — p. 174-184, 188-191. Church meetings before Pen- 
tecost. -p. 191-197. Objections. -p. 179-181, 198-213. Acts 2 
proves that "Pentecost" found the Church already existing, — p. 
213-216. 

CHAPTER XI. 
Campbellism rejects the teaching of the Bible upon human 



CONTENTS. 



XI 



depravity. Definition of total depravity. — p. 218-220. Camp- 
bellite denial of their doctrine. — p. 220. Inherited depravity — 
p. 221-260. Answer to objection from "of such is the kingdom of 
heaven," etc. — p. 245-248, Answer to objection from the Prodi- 
gal Son. — p. 252. Answer to objection from "we are also his off- 
spring."- p. 252-260. Depravity total.— p 248-273. 

CHAPTER XII. 

The Komish doctrine of baptismal regeneration a fundamental 
doctrine of Campbellism. — p. 274-295. A. Campbell taught bap- 
tismal regeneration.— p. 274-278. B. W. Stone taught baptismal 
regeneration. — p. 279. A. Campbell's followers teach baptismal 
regeneration.- p. 279-295. Campbellism teaches that baptism 
changes children of Satan into children of God. p. 283-284. 
Campbellism teaches that all sane persons who are of an age to 
believe and who die unbaptized will be damned.— p 284-289. 
Campbellites afraid of their own doctrine, and attempting to 
evade it.— p. 286-287. Campbellites, to save persons from their 
sins, baptizing them when so near dead as to not know what was 
being done to them. — p. 289. Campbellite pouring for baptizing, 
to save the dying. — p. 289-290 Campbellites attempting to deny 
they teach baptismal regeneration, by saying they believe in 
faith and repentance with baptism.— p. 291-294, 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Baptismal regeneration not in the Bible . Faith only saves 
penitent sinners : design and symbolism of baptism. - p. 296, etc, 
Harmony and meaning of Paul and James on justification. — p. 
305-318. Objection from passing around the walls of Jerico and 
Naaman's dipping seven times in Jordan, etc. — p 318-323. Ob- 
jection that justification by faith only excludes the "blood," re- 
pentance, etc. — p. 327-329. Objection from putting on Christ in 
baptism.— p 343-344. Objection from confession into salvation. 
— p. 346. Objection, that Paul in speaking the "word of the 
Lord" to the jailar told him to be baptized to be saved. — p. 354. 
Objection that baptism is not "works' 1 because an act of faith. — 
p. 362-363. What "works" mean.— 356-359. Justified without 
works. — 356-363. Baptism only a symbol. — 367-368. Inconsisten- 
cy of Campbellites on the symbolism of the ordinances. — p. 369- 
370. Zwingli the only consistent leader of the "Reformation" as 
to the symbolism of the ordinances. — p. 371. Only Baptists are 
Scriptural as to the symbolism of the ordinances — p. 370-371. 
Campbellism is Romanism in literalizing the design of baptism. 
— p. 369-370. Campbellite objection from Rom. 6:17.— p. 372- 
374. Meaning of baptism into Christ, into the Trinity, into repen- 
tance, into remission, etc, etc.— p. 379-385. What born of water 



Xll 



CONTENTS. 



means.— p. 385-387, 409-410, Saved by water and baptism "the 
answer of a good conscience." — p. 387-391. Baptism "for the re- 
mission of sins. " — p. 392-403. Baptism did not save Cornelius 
and his house. — p 403-404. u He tha-t foelieveth and is baptized 
shall be saved."— p. 404-409. 

CHAPTER XIY. 

Self-condemning inconsistencies and absurdities of the Camp- 
bellite baptismal regeneration plan of salvation. It presents God 
as whimsical; is an attempt to hold to salvation by both faith and 
works ; is a plan of salvation which leaves all Baptists, the found- 
er of the Campbellite Church and the first Campbellite preachers 
and thousands of Campbellites to be damned; Campbellites dare 
not affirm the consequences of their own doctrine; Campbellites 
teach that it is right to commune with children of Satan; Camp- 
bellites hold to many plans of salvation.— p. 412-424. Campbell - 
ism originated the doctrine of penance. — p 423 The same law of 
pardon, etc., for both the alien and the Christian.- p. 418-423. 
Objection from Simon, the Sorcerer, and he shown to have been 
only a hypocrite.— p. 420-422. 

CHAPTER XV. 

Campbellism denies that the Holy Spirit regenerates, "bears 
witness" and sanctifies. — p. 424-438. 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Both science and the Scriptures condemn Campbellism upon 
the operations of the Holy Spirit. — p. 4^8-476. Testimony 
through "feelings" that we are Christians — u heart-felt relig- 
ion."— p. 438-442. Testimony of Mill, Hamilton and McCosh. - 
p. 438-442. Baptists do not teach that the Spirit converts without 
the word. — p 464. Campbellite objections. -p. 447-449; 463-465; 
455. Campbellites deny that devils dwell in and lead sinners. — 
p 455, 456. Devils are personal, dwell on the earth and in sin- 
ners. — p 451-456. Sin of the Church in not depending on the 
Spirit for revivals. — p. 471. 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Campbellism repudiates the Scriptural nature and the order of 
regeneration, repentauce and faith.— p. 477-505. What regener- 
ation is. — p. 477-479. Campbellites affirm regeneration is bap- 
tism, that it does not change our nature. — p. 479 Campbellites 
deny Scriptural repentance.— p. 479-485. Distinction between 
"Godly sorrow" and repentance.— p. 482-483. The repentance 
of Judas not Scriptural repen ance. — p. 482. The "new man* 1 and 
not the u old man'' repents, p 480-485. Campbellites deny 
/Scriptural faith and know only the faith which demons have. — p. 



CONTENTS. 



Xlll 



485-4S7. Scriptural faith the act of only the "new man," of 
love, of the power and the work of God, begotten of God, etc , 
and the "gift of God. '—p. 487-495. "That," of Eph . 2 :8, refers 
to "faith."— p. 490-492. Campbellite faith is Haekelism in relig- 
ion.— p. 489. Difference between Scriptural and Campbellite 
faith. — p. 492-495. Regeneration precedes repentance and faith; 
and repentance precedes faith.— p. 495-505. Campbellite objec- 
tions.— p. 500-505 ; 508-511. 

CHAPTEK XVIII. . 

Passivity and activity in regeneration, in the new birth and 
in repentance and faith.— p. 505-508. Distinction between regen- 
eration and the new birth. — p. 506-507 ; 509. f 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Campbellism has the work of salvation "backwards." — p. 508- 
511. 

CHAPTER XX. 

The universal and the particular gospel call and the operations 
of the Holy Spirit.— 512-514. 

CHAPTER XXI. 

Campbellism is Guiteauism and infidelity upon the sinner's re- 
sponsibility and the mysteries of grace. — p. 512-524. Free will, 
divine Sovereignty and moral responsibility; Election; Camp- 
bellite and infidel objections. — p. 512-524. 

CHAPTER XXII. 

Campbellism opposed to sorrow for sin and to the sinner pray- 
ing.— p 525-529. The "mourners' bench." 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

Campbellites scoff at praying for sinners — the "mourners* 
bench, " etc.— p. 529-532; 595-599. Final preservation of the 
saints incidentally introduced and proved. — p. 530-531. 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

Heterodoxy of Campbellites as to the Deity and the Atonement 
of Jesus Christ.— p. 532-538. 

CHAPTER XXV. 

Campbellism a strong compound of the heathen doctrine of 
transmigration of souls and of Spiritism.— p. 438-539. 



t As the same subject incidentally appears in different chapters, references are 
in the Index accordingly. 



xiv 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

Campbellism ridicules and scoffs at the Scriptural doctrine of 
the call to the ministry.— p. 540-548. This call clearly vindica- 
ted- — p. 540-548. A great need of our time is to have this subject 
impressed upon the hearts of our churches.— p. 544, 547. Modern 
evangelism and Church order. — p. 547. 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

In principle, Campbellism is Romanism in Church government, 
—p. 549-554. Scriptural Churches congregational — a free peo- 
ple. -p 550-554. 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

Campbellism anti -Scriptural upon the plurality of elders, etc. 
—p. 555-560. A non-preaching ruling elder, unknown to the 
New Testament and his office the invention of John Calvin. — p. 
556-558 • The only New Testament permanent Church offiees . —p. 
555. 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

Campbellism a nest and cage of heresies and an ecclesiasti- 
cal pirate.— p. 561-571. Creeds, their use and abuse —p. 563-566. 
With Baptists the Bible the only rule of faith and practice —p. 
563 -566 Who are the creed -haters .—p. £61. Why creeds are 
hated, -p 567-568. Campbellism a refuge and nest of heretics — 
p. 568. The Utopian and anti-Scriptural plan of Campbellism 
upon Christian union.— p 568-571, 593, 600-603. 

CHAPTER XXX. 

Campbellism foolish and anti-Scriptural upon Church author- 
ity and communion, p. 571-576. The Church the custodian of 
the terms of Church membership and of communion; to receive 
and exclude members, etc., etc.— p 571-576. The only condition 
of communion not baptism but an orderly Church membership. 
— p 576. 

CHAPTER XXXI. 

Campbellism anti-Scriptural in teaching that the Scriptures 
require every Sabbath communion. — p 577-582. 

CHAPTER XXXII. 

Campbellism to a great extent Mormonism; and Mormonism 
a sprout of Campbellism — p. 582-591. Campbellite concessions 
as to the likeness of Campbellism to Mormonism - p 590-591. 
Campbellites acknowledge that Campbellism is more like Mor- 
monism than like Baptist doctrine, and, that the Mormons teach 
the plan of salvation — p. 591. 



CONTENTS. 



XV 



- CHAPTER XXXIII. 

Campbellism condemned by its fruits. — p 592-603. Camp- 
bellism a confessed failure and a source of corruption.— p. 595- 
603. 

CHAPTER XXXIV. 

A. Campbell, before his death, renounced Campbellism. — p. 
603, etc. 



CHAPTEE I. 



THE HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN OF THE CAMPBELLITE 
CHURCH. 

Section I. The Campbellite Church was developed 
out of Stonism. f 

Barton W. Stone was born "near Port Tobacco, in 
the State of Maryland, December 24, 1772."— Works 
of B. W. Stone, by Eld. James M. Mathes, (a lead- 
ing Campbellite writer and preacher) p. 9. In 1798, 
Barton W. Stone, in Kentucky, was ordained a 
preacher in the Presbyterian Church. He was then 
skeptical on some of the great doctrines of the Bible. 
In 1803 the Synod of Lexington, Ky., excluded Mr. 
Stone for some of his notions, Mr. Stone then 
formed a party, and claimed that it was a Church of 
Christ. This he organized, and changed from one 
thing to another, abandoning some false doctrines and 
taking up others. Mr. Stone died in Hannibal, Mo., 
Nov. 9, 1844. Let us notice some things in the 
history of Stonism. — Idem pp. 17, 19, 33. 

First. Stonism was a conglomeration of Romanism. 

t Before reading this book the reader is earnestly requested to 
read the "Introduction," also to turn to chapter V, on the 
"name" for the church, in which he will see my justification for 
using the words, " Campbell ite" and "Campbellism." 



2 



ORIGIN OF THE 



Having originated from the Romish Church, the Pres- 
byterian Church inherited some fundamental Romish 
errors. These B. W. Stone received from Presby- 
terianism. Some of these errors are the following : 
1. Affusion in the place of baptism. The Romish 
Church substituted affusion for baptism. John Calvin, 
who was the principal originator of the Presbyterian 
Church, wrote : 6 'Whether the person who is baptized 
be wholly immersed, and whether thrice or once, or 
whether water be only poured or sprinkled upon him, 
is of no importance ; Churches ought to be left at 
liberty in this respect, to act according to the difference 
of countries. The very word baptize, however, 
signifies to immerse, and it is certain that immersion 
was the practice of the ancient Church.''* — Inst, of the 
Chr. Belig. vol. J?, p. 491, published by the Presb. 
Board of Publication. Calvin, having learned from 
the Romish Church to thus change God's Word, 
taught the Presbyterian Church to do so. B. W. 
Stone thus inherited affusion for baptism. Mathes 
says: "Sometime after the new organization had 
been inaugurated he — Stone— became dissatisfied with 
'Infant Sprinkling.' The brethren, elders, and 
deacons, came together on this subject ; for we had 
agreed previously with one another to act in concert, 
and not to adventure on any new thing without advice 
from one another. At this meeting we took up the 
matter in a brotherly spirit, and concluded that every 
brother and sister should act freely. . . . Now 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH. 



3 



the question arose, who will baptize us. The Baptists 
would not, except we united with them ; and there 
were no elders among us who had been immersed 
It was finally concluded among us, that if we were 
authorized to preach, we were also authorized to 
baptize. The work then commenced, and preachers 
baptized one another, and crowds came and were also 
baptized. My congregations very generally submitted 
to it, and it soon became general." — Mathes' Life of 
B. W. /Stone, p. 27. See also Purviance andB. W. 
Stone. 

2. Infant Baptism inherited by Stone from the Pres- 
byterian Church. Says Meander : "It is in the highest 
degree probable . . . that the practice of infant 
baptism was unknown" in the Apostolic Churches. — 
Planting and Training of the Chr. Church, p. 162. 
So say historians and Biblical scholars of all creeds. 
The late eminent scholar, Prof. H. B. Hackett, wrote : 
"We are authorized to say that the opinion that 
Infant Baptism has any legitimate sanction from any 
passage in the New Testament is no longer tenable at 
the bar of Biblical criticism."— Infant Baptism, by 
Chase, p. 78. The Romish Church relies, not on 
Scripture for infant baptism, but on its assumed right 
to originate and change the ordinances. Says Dollin- 
ger, the Romish historian : "There is no proof or hint 
in the New Testament that the Apostles baptized 
infants or ordered them to be baptized." — -First Age of 
the Church, p. 318, 319. 



4 



ORIGIN OF THE 



In a Doc. Cat., approved by Archbishop Hughes, 
written by "Rev. Stephen Keenan," we read; "It 
does not appear from Scripture that even one infant 
was ever baptized." The last quotation which I have 
made from the Life of B. W. Stone shows that while 
a Presbyterian he believed in infant rantism. He had 
inherited it from the Presbyterian Church. We know 
that the Presbyterian Church inherited it from the 
Romish. 

3. Presbyterian Church Government. — Inheritedby 
JStone from the Presbyterian Church. If anything is 
settled by history and the Bible, it is that the Presby- 
terian Church government was unknown to the first 
century. By changing the Romish Church govern- 
ment, so as to leave it about half way between the 
Church government of the Bible and that of Roman- 
ism, Calvin originated the Presbyterian Church gov- 
ernment. Mathes says: "As they" — the church of 
Stone, "proceeded in the investigation of the sub- 
ject they soon found that there was neither precept 
nor example in the New Testament for such confedera- 
cies as modern Church Sessions, Presbyteries, Synods, 
General Assemblies, etc. Hence they concluded that 
while they continued in the connection in which they 
stood, they were off from the foundation of the apos- 
tles and the Prophets." — Idem p. 25. But, in prin- 
ciple and practice, Stonism retained the Presbyterian 
Church government. Against the church governing its 
own affairs, Stone says : "The majority of ourcongre- 



Campbell ite church. 5 

gations are composed of women, boys," — a high com- 
pliment to his mother and wife — ' 6 and girls, and of 
many others who have recently professed faith in 
Christ. Before such a tribunal a case could not with 
safety be tried."— Idem, p. 324. On p. 325, he fa- 
vors a board of "elders" to attend to all the govern- 
ment of the Church. See chapter 30, of this book, 
for refutation of this notion. 

4. Baptismal Regeneration, — Inherited by Stone 
from the Presbyterian Church. In a Cat. by "The Most 
Reverend Doctor James Butler, Revised and Improved 
and Recommended by the four R. C. Bishops of Ire- 
land," on p. 46, we read: "What is Baptism? Ans- 
A sacrament which cleanses us from original sin, makes 
us Christians and children of God and heirs of the 
kingdom of heaven. Does Baptism also remit the 
actual sins, committed before it? Yes; and all the 
punishment due them." This doctrine, the Presbyte- 
rian Church inherited from the Romish. John Calvin 
wrote: "We ought to conclude, that at whatever time 
we are baptized, we are washed and purified for the 
whole life. ... I know that it is the common 
opinion, that remission of sins, which at our first re- 
generation we receive by baptism alone," etc, — Inst. 
Chr. Relig. vol, 2, pp. 478, 479. Calvin ingrafted 
this error into the Presbyterian Church. As a few 
examples of Presbyterian testimony : Matt. Henry, 
in his Treatise on Bap., says: "Baptism wrests the 
key of the heart out of the strong man armed, that 



6 ORIGIN OF THE 

the possession may be surrendered to him whose right 
it is. The water of baptism is designed for cleansing 
from the spots and defilements of the flesh. In bap- 
tism our names are engraved upon the breastplate of 
the high priest. This is the efficacy of baptism ; it 
is putting the child's name into the gospel grant. We 
are baptized in Christ's stead; that is, God doth, in 
that ordinance seal, confirm, and make over to us all 
the benefits of the death of Christ." — Quoted by Rev. 
J. R. Graves, LL. D., in The Baptist. Also quoted 
in Howell on Communion. Commenting on Eph. 5 :2(3 
Matt. Henry says : "The instrumental means whereby 
this is effected''—!, e., the soul saved — "are the sac- 
raments, particularly the washing of baptism and the 
preaching and the reception of the Gospel." 

Dwight, in his "System of Theology," as quoted 
by J. R. Graves : "When children die in infancy, and 
are scripturally dedicated to God in baptism, there is 
much and very consoling reason furnished to believe 
that they are accepted beyond the grave." Says James 
Bannerman, D. D., Professor of Apologetics and Pas- 
toral Theol. New College, Edinburgh ; author of In- 
spiration, the Infallibility, Truth and Divine Author- 
ity of the Holy Scriptures :"—" The supernatural effica- 
cy connected with baptism and owing to the presence 
of the Spirit of God with the ordinance, is an efficacy 
competent to infants as to adults .... Admit that 
this grace is conveyed in any given case through the 
channel of baptism to the believing adult and you ad- 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH. 



7 



mit a mystery." Again: "By the act of baptism 
. . . . his name is put into the covenant with his 
God." Again: "I think there is some reason to 
think .... that in the case of infants regenerated 
in infancy, baptism is ordinarily connected with such 
regeneration." Again : "It is baptism that gives the 
baptized infant a right of property in the blessings of 
the covenant." Again: ' 'In the sign of the covenant 
thus administered to the child, and linked, as we be- 
lieve, in such a case, to a new spiritual life, there is 
ground of hope and consolation to a bereaved but 
Christian parent beyond all price." (My italics.) 
This, Mr. Bannerman, a few lines further on, partly 
explains, in the words: k 'In its case the baptism with 
water and the baptism with the Spirit ivere bound up 
in one" (My italics.) The Church of Christ, by 
Bannerman, vol. 2, pp. 110, 111,119, 120. From 
other expressions, if taken alone, you would think Mr. 
Bannerman did not believe what the above quotations 
teach. A Presbyterian, not long ago, in the Presby- 
terian Journal, says : "Permit me, an illiterate man, 
to say I can not believe your doctrine that all infants 
dying in infancy are saved, no more than I could that 
all adults are. I think it is the way to universalism. 
I would like to have you give me proof from God's 
Word in your valuable paper. I know there are thous- 
ands of Presbyterians who believe as I do." Doubt- 
less baptismal regeneration has had its influence in 
misleading this Presbyterian. Dr. Nevin, formerly a 



8 



ORIGIN OF THE 



Professor at Princeton : "The Church makes us Chris- 
tians by the sacrament of baptism, which she always 
held to be of supernatural force, for that very pur- 
pose." — Quoted by J. R. Graves, from JPritchard on 
Bap., p. 124. The late Dr. Charles Hodge, of 
Princeton: "The Bible teaches that the sacraments 
are the signs of spiritual blessings." — The Way of 
Life, p. 21. Again: "We should greatly err, how- 
ever, if we supposed they were merely signs. We 
are taught that they are seals; that they were ap- 
pointed by Christ to certify to believers their interests 
in the covenant of grace. Among men a seal is used 
for the purpose of authentication and confirmation." 
p. 262, Again : "The sacraments- are the seals of the 
covenant." — p. 263-4. Again: "The sacraments are 
efficacious means of grace, not merely exhibiting to, 
but actually conferring upon those who worthily re- 
ceive them, the benefits which they represent." "The 
sacraments have not only the influence due to the lively 
exhibition of truth, but as a means of God's appoint- 
ment, and attended by his Spirit, they become effica- 
cious signs of grace, communicating what they 
signify ." — p. 265, quoted by Thos. Armitage, D.D., 
(My italics.) Again says Dr. Hodge: "We are 
baptized in order that we may be united to Christ, and 
be made partakers of his benefits. Thus baptism unto 
repentance is a baptism that the remission of sins may 
be obtained." — Quoted by J. R. Graves, from 
Pritchard on Baptism, p. 124. In the great work of 



CAMPBELL1TE CHURCH. 



9 



his life, completed just before his death, Dr. Hodge 
says : 6 'Baptism is not only a sign and a seal; it is also 
a means of grace, and the promises of which it is the 
seal, are assured or fulfilled to those who are baptized, 
provided they believe." Of infant rantism, he says : 
"What is to hinder the imputation to them of the 
righteousness of Christ, or their receiving the renewing 
of the Holy Ghost, so that their whole nature may be 
developed in a state of reconciliation to God ? Doubt- 
less this often occurs ; but whether it does or not, their 
baptism stands good ; it assures them of salvation, if 
they do not renounce their baptismal covenant." — 
Hodges' Systematic Theology, Vol, 3, pp. 589, 590. 
(My italics.) In the chapter whence I make this 
quotation, is much to the same effect. In the same 
chapter Dr. Hodge makes a few statements seemingly 
contradictory to this. In carefully studying the chap- 
ter, I am impressed that the venerable doctor could 
hardly swallow baptismal regeneration ; and 3^et could 
not do otherwise. With the volumes before me I 
read the quotation to a learned Presbyterian minister, 
a former Princeton student, who could not tell what to 
do with it, and who said to me: "May he not be 
right?" The Presbyterian Confession of Faith, on 
baptism, says : 

"Grace and salvation are not so inseparably annexed 
unto it as that no person can be regenerated or saved 
without it, or that all that are baptized are undoubtedly 
regenerated. The efficacy of baptism is not tied to the 



10 



ORIGIN OF THE 



moment of time, wherein it is administered ; yet, 
notwithstanding, by the right use of this ordinance, 
the grace promised is not only offered, but really 
exhibited and conferred by the Holy Ghost, to such 
(whether of age or infants) as that grace belongeth 
unto."— Chap. 28, Sees. 5, 6. 

Again: "Baptism is a sacrament of the New Testa- 
ment, ordained by Jesus Christ, not only for the 
solemn admission of the party baptized into the visible 
Church, but also to be unto him a sign and a seal of 
the covenant of grace, for his ingrafting into Christ, 
of regeneration, and of his giving up unto God/' 
etc.— Chap. 28, Sec, 1. (My italics.) 

Webster: "That which confirms, ratifies, or makes 
suitable ; assurance ; that which secures, makes reliable 
or stable." — Die. Now, if the ratification, confirming, 
assuring, making stable, reliable and secure, and 
securing of anything is essential to it, most certainly, 
this doctrine that baptism seals, teaches that, in some 
way or some how, baptism literally saves us. So Sec. 
88, of the "Shorter Catechism" says : "The outward 
and ordinary means whereby Christ communicateth 
to us the benefits of redemption, are his ordinances, 
especially the word, sacraments and prayer; all of 
which are made effectual to the elect for salvation." — 
Ques. 88. Ques 99 : "How do the sacraments become 
effectual means of salvation? A. The sacraments 
become effectual means of salvation, not from any 
virtue in them, or in him that doth administer them, 



CAMPBELLITE CHUKCH. 



11 



but only by the blessing of Christ, and the working of 
the Spirit in them that by faith receive them." (My 
italics.) Should it be answered : Yes, but the answer 
says they save, ' 'not from any virtue in them, or in 
him that doth administer them, but by the blessing of 
Christ," I reply, that is just what the Romish Church 
— which none deny, believes in baptismal regeneration 
— says. Thus Butlers' s Cat. says "the sacraments" 
are "means" — the very word used in the Pres. Cat. — 
by which "we obtain the grace of God." Again 
Butler's Cat. Ques: "Whence have the sacraments the 
power of giving grace? Ans. From the merits of 
Christ which they apply to our souls." — p. 45. f 
Summers, a leading Methodist writer, rightly explains 
baptismal regeneration : 

"Sometimes the advocates of the doctrine speak of 
baptism as regeneration, sometimes as the instrument 
of regeneration : sometimes as taking effect ex opere 
operato, by its own inherent virtue — sometimes ex op- 
ere operantis, in view of the faith and prayers of the 
parties concerned, whether subjects or sponsors, and 
sometimes in consequence of eternal election."— Sum 
mers on Bap. p. 25. 

S. Miller, D. D., of Princeton says: 

"The doctrine referred to, as held by some Protest- 
ants, in its most objectionable form appears to be 
this : that the change which the Scriptures designate 

t Chapter 12, of this book, on Campbellism and baptismal 
regeneration, shows that this is precisely the Campbellite 
doctrine. 



12 



ORIGIN OF THE 



by the term regeneration, is always attendant upon, 
and effected by, the rite of baptism, when duly ad- 
ministered. . . In short the position that the in- 
ward grace of regeneration always accompanies the 
outward sign of baptism ; that they are inseparable ; 
that the one cannot exist without the other ; that he 
who has been thus regenerated, if he die without fall- 
ing from grace, will certainly be saved ; that baptism 
is essential to salvation." — Quoted in the J. It. Graves 
and Alex. Campbell Discussion, pp. 78, 79. 

Kitto : "That it' ' — baptism — ' 'is a direct instrument 
of grace ; the application of the water to the person 
by a properly qualified functionary, being regarded as 
the appointed vehicle by which God bestows regenera- 
ting grace upon men. This is the Komanist and An- 
glo-Catholic view."-(7yc. Biblical Lit., in the Graves 
Campbell Debate, p. 79. 

"According to some sections of the Christian Church 
. the change" — regeneration— "is inseparably 
involved with Christian baptism in all cases ; while 
others do not acknowledge any essential connection 
between baptism and regeneration. In the view of 
the former, baptism constitutes always a real point of 
transition, from the natural to the spiritual life. The 
grace of baptism is the grace of regeneration ; the 
laver of baptism is the laver of regeneration, not 
merely in any formal sense, but in a real and living 
sense — or at least so that every baptized person — has 
already become a Christian truly, although he may fall 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH. 



13 



from the grace that he has received . . . In the view 
of others regeneration is a special, conscious process" 
— what Baptists term a ' 'heart felt" change, 44 heart 
felt religion" — which takes place independently of 
baptism, or of any other outward ceremony. It im- 
plies a sensible experience" — so often ridiculed by 
Campbellites — an awakening whereby men come to see 
the evil of sin, and the divine displeasure against sin, 
and through the Holy Spirit are born again, put away 
their former evil life, and begin to live a new divine 
life ; and many Christians have spoken with the rapt- 
ure of this experience" — reader have you? — "of its 
thoroughness, its suddenness, its immediateness." — 
Universal Knoioledge, vol. 12 \ p. 208. (All the above 
italics mine). 

As to mere water regenerating, as Dr. Hibbard, a 
standard Methodist writer, remarks: "No one ever 
believed that baptism or the outward washing, regen- 
erates ; but only that a person is regenerated at bap- 
tism, and that regeneration is a necessary part of the 
sacrament, of which baptism is the other part. . 
The question is, Has God appointed that regeneration 
should ordinarily accompany baptism?" — Hibbard on 
Baptism, Pari I, p. 279. (My italics. ) 

These writers agree that baptismal regeneration 
does not mean that water alone regenerates, but that 
it is a condition of a means by which God regener- 
ates. In this they rightly define baptismal regenera- 
tion . 



14 



ORIGIN OF THE 



William Norton, of England, therefore rightly says, 
of my last quotation from the Presb. Cat., < 'Except as 
to the intention of the administrator, this is precisely 
the doctrine of Rome." Summers says: "The Re- 
formers varied very little from the teaching of Rome 
on this subject." — On Bap. p. 128. 

Fairbairn : "Baptism is spoken of as a saving, in 
consequence of its being a purifying ordinance. . . . 
This is virtually admitted by Steiger who .... is 
obliged to regard the water as the instrumental 
means of salvation." — Typology, by Fairbairn, vol. 
l,p. 274. "Christian Baptism ... is designed to 
bring the individual that receives it under those vital 
influences that purge away the corruption of a fleshly 
nature, and cause the seed of the divine life to take 
root and grow for the occupation of a better inheri- 
tance."— idem, p. 64. Speaking of the "transmis- 
sion of grace, necessary to effect the requisite 
change," Fairbairn says, of baptism: "It exhibits 
that grace . . and makes the subject of the ordi- 
nance bound to use it for the accomplishment of the 
proper end." — idem, p. 315. W. C. Davis, in his 
"Lectures on Pauls' Ep. to the Romans, with Critical 
Notes and Observations," "published by the Gen. 
Conv. of the Independent Presb. Church, Charles- 
ton, S. C, says : 

"Some think that all infants dying in infancy will 
be saved. But this notion is totally unfounded, and 
has no support in the Word of God . • . God has 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH* 



15 



never promised a single saving blessing to an unbe- 
liever or his children, and there is no ground to hope 
for what God has never promised to grant." — pp.292, 
293, quoted by D. Shaver, D. D., in Tex. Baptist 
Herald. 

This is but the logical deduction from all the Pres- 
byterian talk about baptism bringing the child into 
God's covenant, and about Baptists neglecting their 
children by not sprinkling them. So Dr. Charles 
Hodge says : "Infants have always been baptized for 
the remission of sin, and men have ever been regarded 
by the Church as born in pin." — Systematic Theol. 
by Hodge, vol. 2, p 191, quoted by J. It. Graves, LL 
D. The Heidelburg Cat., on the basis of the father 
of the Presbyterian Church — John Calvin, — adopted 
in 1652, which is the standard of the Dutch and German 
Keformed Churches of Europe, and its "use," "so re- 
cently as 1870," "authorized" by the Presbyterian 
Church of the United States." — See Schaff Herzog 
Ency. vol. 2, p. 960 — teaches baptismal regeneration. 
In 1863 its adoption was celebrated and a handsome 
centenary edition of it published in this country, suit- 
ably edited by prominent divines, with an elaborate 
historical introduction. After laboring, throughout 
100 pages of the Introduction to this Cat., to prove 
that baptismal regeneration with the instruction there- 
with connected, form the very basis of Christianity, 
they say : 

"The Heidleberg Cat., is constructed on this scheme 



16 



ORIGIN OF THE 



of Christianity altogether . . . It is not intelligi- 
ble on any other ground ; and with the giving way, 
accordingly of the old belief in baptismal grace and 
educational religion, we find that it has, in fact, lost 
its hold upon the practice of our modern churches 
altogether.''— Pp. 112, 113. 

' 'The Baptist principle, as it may be called, has en- 
tered widely into their theology and church life, bring- 
ing them to make large concessions practically to the 
unchurchly spirit around them ; so that they find it 
hard to bear up against its assumptions and preten- 
sions, and are more and more in danger always of 
being swept away from their ancient moorings, and 
driven forth into the open sea of spiritualistic fanati- 
cism and unbelief . This," they goon to say, "un- 
questionably is the great reason why in certain quar- 
ters within these communions" — they mention the 
various Pedo-rantist bodies of the country — "such 
small stress has come to be laid on infant baptism." — 
p. 115. 

A little farther on, returning to their lamentation 
over the giving away of baptismal regeneration, etc. : 

"We are surrounded now, as we have just seen, with 
a wholly different practice, which is the fruit and evi- 
dence of a wholly different faith. What that faith is, 
or rather what it is not, has been mentioned already in 
general terms. It is the absence of all belief in that 
side of Christianit}^, which is represented to us in the 
idea of the Church as being in any way the organ and 



CAMPBELL1TE CHURCH. 



17 



medium of grace for the children of men. In this 

respect our modern sects are all of one mind 

They are all of them thus constitutionally Baptistic ;f 
having no power to see in the church, membership of 
infants and young children J anything more than an 
empty form, and never daring to make any practice 
earnest with the thought of their sanctification to 
God."— Pp. 118, 119. 

A physician, in the Examiner, of N. Y., quoted 
from an article, by Rev. E. H. Lunde, M. A., in the 
Sunday Magazine, of March, 1867, edited by the 
late Dr. Guthrie, entitled, "The Crown Without the 
Conflict, Musings on the Death of Children:" 

"In reference to the children of the ungodly dying 
in childhood, Scripture, for wise reasons, has not bro- 
ken silence, and however strong the grounds of hope 
may seem to be, we will go no farther than the record 
of the written word — we too will keep silence. But 
as regards the children of Christian parents cut off in 
infancy, the same infallible word does warrant us to 
speak with confidence." 

Presbyterians know their children saved because 

f Doubtless much more so than formerly. But Baptists vs. 
Campbellites and Pedo-rantists have yet much ground to fight 
over before this is wholly true — before baptismal regeneration is 
wholly abandoned by them. 

X In regard to the membership of u young children," these 
writers misapprehend the position of Baptists. While rejecting 
infant baptism, Baptists believe in the baptism and the Church 
membership of all "young children" which are of sufficient age 
to repent and believe, and which have done so. 



18 



ORIGIN OF THE 



they have been sprinkled into the covenant. This 
same physician says : 

'*I have observed in the case of infants who are 
sick and apparently about to die ' un christened,' that 
the parents, whether professing Christians or not, are 
powerfully impressed with the belief that the ceremo- 
ny is in some undefined way connected with their 
child's salvation — hence they rush off for a minister 
who performs the ceremony to please the anxious par- 
ents. • . . I remember once, during the preva- 
lence of a very fatal epidemic of scarlet-fever, meet- 
ing a Presbyterian clergyman on the road, who told 
me that so many children were dying from the fever 
that he had been around among the families under his 
charge baptizing — 'just,' said he, 'as you would go 
around vaccinating them during the appearance of 
small-pox.' " 

A Baltimore correspondent of the Western Recor- 
der, of Louisville, wrote : 

"A Presbyterian mother of this city lost a child with 
scarlet fever. It had never been 'baptized.' She was 
sorely troubled that it died without 'baptism.' In a 
few days another child was taken sick with the same 
disease. She sent immediately for her minister, a 
distinguished divine, to baptize it. He said to her, 'If 
I baptize this child, and thus relieve your fears about 
its salvation, where is the soul of the other child that 
was not baptized ? If my church forces me to do it, I 
will either join the Catholic church, that believes 



CAMPBELL ITE CHURCH. 



19 



baptism to be a saving ordinance, or join the Baptist 
Church, where they baptize none but those they believe 
are saved.' " 

I do not say that Presbyterians generally believe, 
fully, in baptismal regeneration. Some do not, in the 
least, believe in it. But their Confessions and Cate- 
chisms teach it, and a large number of their standard 
writers teach and believe it. In a paper, read 
before the Freeport Presbytery, of Illinois, about ten 
years ago, signed by the Committee of the Presbytery 
—viz., Eev. Ben. E. S. Ely, E. A. Elf eld, Mead 
Holmes — and published in The Interior, I find : 
6 'Baptismal regeneration . . . sometimes found 
in churches which repudiate the doctrine." To prove 
that a church repudiates baptismal regeneration, whose 
Confessions, Catechisms, ablest writers, in some way, 
openly, avowedly, or in ambiguous terms, teach it, 
would certainly be a rare feat of logic. This Com- 
mittee farther says : 6 'The* truth is that with many who 
disavow their belief in baptismal regeneration there 
still exists a superstition or social influence leading them 
to desire that their children may be baptized." (My 
italics.) In Ihe Gospel in Ezekiel, Dr. Guthrie, one 
of the greatest Presbterian writers, says : 

* 'Prone as we of Scotland are to boast that our 
fathers, with Knox at their head, came forth from 
Rome with less of her old superstition than most 
other churches,! to what else than some lingering 

t Here, the Doctor honestly acknowledges that the Presbyte- 
rian and all other Churches, which come from ^Mother Rome/ 1 
set up to housekeeping with some of the furniture which they 
brought with them when they set up for themselves, 



20 



ORIGIN OF THE 



remains of Popery can we ascribe the extreme anxiety 
which some parents show to have baptism administered 
to a dying child ? Does not this look like a rag of the 
old faith? It smells of the sepulchre. ... Is 
there not reason to suspect that, at the root of this 
anxious and unnecessary haste, there lies some lurking 
feeling that baptism, if not essential, is at least ser- 
viceable to salvation, and has connection, near or 
remote, with regeneration or remission of sins?" — 
Quoted by J. R. Graves, LL.D. 

William Anderson, LL.D., one of the ablest of 
recent Presbyterian writers, says: 6 'There is yet 
detectable among our Presbyterian population an im- 
pure leaven of the superstition of water-baptism sanc- 
tification." — Anderson on Regeneration, p. 25. 

Coming from the Presbyterian Church, we canf 
therefore, readily see how Stonism taught baptismal 
regeneration. Stonism inherited baptismal regenera- 
tion by the very influence by which the sixteenth 
century Eeformers inherited it from the Romish 
Church. When Stonism originated, the Presbvterian 
Church held much more tenaciously to its standards 
than it now does. Baptists have, since that, so far 
taught Presbyterians the doctrine of justification by 

% I have, in this chapter, devoted much space to this point, for 
the reason that the Campbells, as well as Stone, came from the 
Presbyterian Church, and from it inherited the doctrine of bap- 
tismal regeneration, as much as Stone did. It explains the ori- 
gin of baptismal regeneration, so tenaciously held by Campbell - 
ism. 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH. 



21 



faith alone , that any split off from them now would not 
be so likely to believe in baptismal regeneration. Mr. 
Stone abandoned baptismal regeneration for infants, 
but retained it for adults. 

Says Mr. Stone, of A Campbell : 

"I saw no distinctive feature between the doctrine 
he preached and the doctrine we had preached for 
many years, except on baptism for the remission of 
sins. Even this I had once received and taught, as 
before stated, but had strangely let it go from my 
mind"— this statement shows that Mr. Stone did not 
see it in the Bible, as he would not have forgotten it, 
had it been there — 6 6 till brother Campbell revived it 
afresh. "Life of B. W. Stone, by Mathes, p. 29 . 

On the previous page, Mr. Stone saj^s, of this doc- 
trine : "Into the spirit of the doctrine I was never 
fully led, until it was revived by brother Alexander 
Campbell, some years after." (My italics in both 
quotations). Thus, from the Romish Church, through 
the Presbyterian Church, Stonism inherited baptismal 
regeneration. 

Second. Stonism abandoned some of the great funda- 
mental truths held by the Presbyterian Church, and 
substitutsd infidelity for them. (1) Says Mr. Stone: 
4 4 My own views of the Son of God are that he did not 
begin to exist 1820 years ago, nor did he exist from 
eternity." — Life of B. W. Stone, by Mathes, p. 66. 
"All must acknowledge that the only true God can 
not suffer ; for he was as happy during the suffering 



22 



ORIGIN OF THE 



of Jesus, as he had been from eternity. I ask, who 
suffered on the cross?" — Idem, p. 63. Of the divine 
attributes Mr. Stone says: "But we ascribe them to 
him because the Father dwells in him." — Idem, p. 81. 
As well ascribe them to any Christian, since Paul says 
that the Christian is "the temple of God." 1 Cor., 
3: 16, 17. Mr. Stone, while claiming to believe in 
the divinity of Christ, admitted that he did not be- 
lieve the common doctrine of His Deity. He admits : 
"We have also been charged with denying the Son of 
God ; or in other words, his divinity." — Idem, p. 58. 
This denial he disclaims ; then utters such blasphem- 
ous utterances as above quoted ! On p. 82, Stone 
says: "The common prejudice of education may 
bear hard against some of these sentiments." Other 
denominations, whose doctrine on the person of 
Christ, he ridiculed, have never, on this, been called in 
question by any true, evangelical Christian. How can 
Stone's and theirs both be right? If the Christian 
world is "sound" on the Deity of Christ, Stonism was 
certainly "unsound." The above utterances can be 
made by no true Christian. Hence, on John 17:5, 
Stone says: "The person praying was not the very 
God." — Idem, p. .68. (2.) Denying the Deity of 
the Son of God, Mr. Stone repudiated the Atonement. 
Stone says: "Tbe views many of us have on this 
doctrine subjected us to more reproach than anything 
else." — Idem, p. 85. "If all our iniquities were im- 
puted to Christ and borne away by him ; and if he 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH. 



23 



suffered the punishment due to our sins, then the 
whole world are freed from all punishment " — Idem, 
p. 102 — commenting on Isa. 53. After perverting, 
in the Unitarian manner, a large number of Scrip- 
tures, teaching the Atonement, he says : "Surely from 
none of these cases can the doctrines of the imputa- 
tion of sin, and vicarious punishment be deduced/' — 
Idem, p. 103. "I have often wondered why divines, 
leaving the plain explanation of Isa. 53, as given by 
Christ and his Apostles, are yet continually pressing 
this chapter in support of the imputation of sin and 
of vicarious punishment." — Idem, p, 107. ' 6 On the 
satisfaction of Christ:" "This scheme appears to me 
to be unscriptural, or not found in the Bible. It is 
never said that the blood of Jesus Christ did satisfy 
God's law or justice, or that it was ever designed to 
'satisfy them." — p. 119. "The imputed righteous- 
ness of Christ is not once named in the Bible." 
Page 127. "The notion of the law being made 
infinite was introduced to prove that sin was an in- 
finite evil." — Idem, p. 132. "That Jesus was the 
substitute, the federal head, the representative of 
mankind, is often asserted, but never proved from the 
Bible. These names, nor their ideas attached to them 
by scholastic divines, I have not found in that book." 
— Idem p. 141 . See, in refutation o^ such statements : 
Isa. 53; Heb. 9:14; 13:12; 10:10; 1 John 1:7; 
Rev. 1:5; 1 Pet. 2:24; John 1:29; Rom. 10:4; 
5 :19 ; Gal. 3:13; 1 Cor. 6 :20 ; 7 :23. Passim. The 



24 



ORIGIN OF THE 



denial of the Atonement is the concomitant of the de- 
nial of the deity of Christ . Wherever the one doc- 
trine is denied, the other is, most always, either 
denied or doubted. These being the core and essence 
of the Bible, their denial is infidelity ; and the more to 
be dreaded infidelity when held under the garb of 
Christianity. Stealing the "livery of the court of 
heaven" to serve the Devil in, is nothing to wink at. 
In allusion to Christ, in his character as God, and as 
suffering as our vicarious substitute, Paul said: "If 
any man love not the Lord, let him be anathema." — 1 
Cor. 16 :22. (3). Stouism denied the doctrine of hu- 
man depravity, as taught in the Bible. Says Mr. 
Stone : 

"But it is warmly contended that a sinner cannot 
believe, because he is spiritually dead. The meaning 
of the doctrine is that a sinner must be quickened or* 
made spiritually alive before he can believe. The 
Bible teaches that this is as opposite to the truth as 
light is to darkness." — Idem, p. 147. 

This Campbellite erroi v is refuted in Chap. 11 of 
this book. (4). Stonism denied that faith is the 
"gift of God," and held "that testimony alone produ- 
ces Scriptural faith."— Idem, P. 149 to 143. (5). 
Stonism denied that the Spirit of God regenerates, 
produces repentance, faith — the new life. He says : 
"As faith precedes the receiving of the Spirit, by us, 
it necessarily follows that it precedes the operation of 
the Spirit in us." — Idem, p. 144. He denies repu- 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH. 



25 



diating the doctrine of the operation of the Spirit — 
yes, denies it, emphatically, in the very face of such 
statements as the above ! But, then, as now, Chris- 
tians understood him to repudiate the operation of the 
Spirit. For he says: "We have been frequently 
charged with denying the operations of the Spirit." — 
Idem, p. 142. How, in the name of all reason, can 
a reasonable man, denying the Scriptural doctrines of 
human depravity, the infinite nature of the divine law, 
the atonement, Deity redeeming us, see any necessity 
for the Spirit to regenerate the soul? If the law is 
not infinite, if man is but partly depraved, needing 
no vicarious Savior, he certainly, as little, needs the 
Spirit to create him anew in Christ Jesus. See chap- 
ters 16 and 17, of this book. (6). Stonism repudi- 
ated any formal or written Confession of what we be- 
lieve, as a help to unity, and a preventive of error im- 
posing on us. Mr. Stone said: u We have neither 
made nor adopted any party creed ; but have taken the 
Bible as our standard." — Idem, p. 158. Holding all 
these errors, it looks very much like they had taken, in 
truth, the Bible as their "standard" !( ?) See refuta- 
tion of this deceptive pretense in Chap. 33, of this 
book. (7). Stonism took the name "Christian " as 
the distinguishing name of the Church. He says : 
"We have taken the name Christians . . There are 
party names too many in the world."— P. 159. See 
Chap. 5, of this book, for refutation and expose of 
this. (8). By taking that name Stonism designed 



26 



ORIGIN OF THE 



to unite the Christian world. He says: "Our very 
profession is leveled at the destruction of partyism, as 
the bane of Christianity." — Idem,pp 157 — 160, 332, 
334. [9]. Stonism built itself upon the common 
foundation of sects, viz. : the apostasy and harlotry 
of the Blessed Bride of Christ — the Church of Christ. 
Said Stone : 

6 'By a comparison of the present state of Chris- 
tianity with what it once was, all are brought to the 
conviction that we are yet in the apostacy — under the 
reign of the man of sin — yet in Babylon — yet in the 
wilderness." — Idem, Pp. 259, 332. See Life and 
Times of Elder Ruben Hoss } p. 241, for more testi- 
mony on origin of Stonism. For refutation of this, 
see chapter 10, of this book. 

Third. Stonism was the beginning of the Camp- 
bellite Church. 

Says J. M. Mathes : "The writings of Father 
Stone, constituted, so far as we know, the first pub- 
lic documents written since the commencement of the 
Protestant Reformation, in favor of the name 'Chris- 
tian' as the Scriptural designation for all the disciples 
of Christ, and the union of all Christians upon the 
Bible alone to the exclusion of all party names, hu- 
man creeds and confessions of faith." — Idem,pp. 5,6. 

Mr. Wilmeth, editor of the "Christian Preacher," 
in his debate with D. B. Ray, said : "Barton W. Stone 
began this work before Alexander Campbell was heard 
of." To make this statement more evident, that 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH. 



27 



Stone was the originator of the Campbellite Church, 
no comment is necessary. 

Section II. Work of the Campbells in originat- 
ing the Campbellite Church. 

1. Says Prof. R. Richardson, of Bethany College, 
a leading Campbellite : 

4 'The religious society , . . designated in differ- 
ent sections, as 'Baptists,' 'Reformed Baptists,' 'Re- 
formers,' or 'Campbellites,' had its origin in an ef- 
fort made a few years since, to effect a union of the 
pious of all parties. . . This was at first proposed 
by Thos. Campbell, who had been a minister of high 
standing in the. 'Secession' branch of the Presbyte- 
rian church, in the north of Ireland." — Relig. De- 
nom. p 224, published by Desilver. 

Says A. Campbell : "The first piece that was writ- 
ten on the subject of the great position appeared from 
the pen of Thomas Campbell, Senior, in the year 
1809." — Christian System, by A. Campbell, p. 8. 

2. The work of Thos. Campbell, was taken up and 
completed by his son, A. Campbell. Of A. Campbell : 

"He was educated at the University of Glasgow, 
and came to America as a licentiate of the Seceder 
Church of Scotland. His father, a minister of the 
same denomination, had been for years settled in 
Western Pennsylvania. Young Campbell had ex- 
pected opposition to his changed views in theology, 
but found his father altered and liberalized. 
Under him he continued his studies and preached his 



28 



ORIGIN OF THE 



first sermon July 15, 1810. He rapidly became wide- 
ly popular. Many regarded the views of both father 
and son as both novel and objectionable ; hence they 
and the few who first sided with them formed an iso- 
lated congregation, called 'The Christian Association,' 
organized as the 'Brush Run Church,' with Thomas 
Campbell (1763-1854) the father, as its Elder, several 
deacons, and Alexander Campbell as its licensed 
preacher." — Schaff-Herzog Ency., vol. 1, p 377. 

Says Frederick D. Power, a leading Campbellite 
preacher, and pastor of the Campbellite Church at 
Washington, D. C, at the time of President Garfield's 
death: "In 1811 he" — A. Campbell — "publicly ad- 
vocated the principles already stated, and had organ- 
ized the first regular organization at Brush Run,Penn., 
May 4, 1811, w T ith thirty members." — Idem, p. 644. 
In his speech, at the "unveiling of the bust" of A. 
Campbell the late Hon. Jeremiah Black, Ex- Attorney 
General of the U. S., a Campbellite, says of A. Camp- 
bell: "The little band of disciples gathered around 
him at first, and whom the world, in derision, called 
by his name." 

Mr. Charles V. Segar says : " Alexander Campbell 
soon became chiefly and prominently known as the rec- 
ognized hea d of a new religious movement. . . 
Out of this movement has grown a people, who choose 
to call themselves Christians or Disciples. — Segar's 
Life of Alex. Campbell, p. 25. — quoted by American 
Baptist Flag. 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH. 



29 



In 1847, A. Campbell carried to Europe an introduc- 
tion from Henry Clay, which reads : 

"Dr. Campbell is among the most eminent citizens 
of the United States, distinguished for his great learn- 
ing and ability, for his successful devotion to the 
education of youth, for his piety and as the head and 
founder of one of the most important religious com- 
munities in the United States." — Memoirs of Mr. 
Campbell, vol. J?, p. 548 — quoted by American Bap- 
tist Flag, 

In a series of lectures on Campbellism, delivered by 
Eld. T. P. Haley, pastor of the first Campbellite 
Church of St. Louis, — about eight years ago — delivered 
in his own church, w T e read : 

"The term Campbellism in this lecture is therefore 
used to indicate the 'views,' 'the teachings,' or the 
6 system of doctrine, or the body of divinity first 
promulgated in the United States by the Campbells, 
Thomas and Alexander, father and son." 

After giving an account, too lengthy to give here, 
of the Thomas Campbell experience in the Presby- 
terian Church, Mr. Haley says: "Mr. Campbell there- 
fore proposed a special meeting. . . . The time 
appointed having arrived, there was a very general 
assemblage at the place designated." After telling 
how Mr. Campbell enunciated the new doctrines, which 
he says, "to many was a new revelation," Mr. Haley 
says: "They had thus a well defined basis of action. 
. . It was from the moment that these significant words 



30 



ORIGIN OF THE 



were uttered and accepted that the more intelligent ever 
afterwards dated the formal commencement of the 
current reformation, which has been styled Camp- 
bellism. . . . Thus stood the monument when 
Alexander Campbell, son of Thomas Campbell, arrived 
in this country, in the year of our Lord, 1809. . . . 
After a most careful examination of the principles 
. . . he gave them his hearty approval, and entered, 
with all his rare ability, side by side with his father, 
in their promulgation and defense. Both members of 
the Presbyterian Church, and accepting, in the main, 
the doctrines of the confession." — Just where they got 
baptismal regeneration, and some other errors, — 4 'they 
did not at this time entertain the remotest idea that 
their principles would lead them to a renunciation of 
Presbyterianism, much less result in the establishment 
of another religious body in this country." — from the 
Daily Globe-Democrat. (All the italics in the pre- 
ceding quotations are mine.) 

8. Alexander Campbell, having taken up, and com- 
pleted the work of building the Campbellite Church, 
from the foundation as laid by his father, Thomas 
Campbell, is universally regarded by all honest, 
intelligent people, as the father, founder or originator, 
of the Campbellite Church. The testimonies, just 
quoted, clearly establish this. Hence all honest men, 
who know the facts, speak of Alexander Campbell as 
the founder of the Campbellite Church. As a few 
illustrations: « 'Mrs. Alexander Campbell, widow of 



CAMPBELLITE CHUKCH. 



31 



the divine, ivho founded the Church of the Disci- 
ples, resides at Wheeling, and is over eighty years old. 
— Frank Leslie's Sunday Magazine, for Feb. 1884 
— quoiedby Am. Bap. Flag. The weekly Inter- 
Ocean, of March, 1882, of a Mrs. Thompson, says: 
6 4 She is the daughter of Alexander Campbell, the 
founder of the religious denomination bearing his 
name." — quoted by Am. Bap. Flag. The same pa- 
per quotes the N. Y. Times : "There has been in ses- 
sion here this week the General Missionary Society of 
the Christian or Disciple Church. This sect was 
founded by Alexander Campbell. His widow was 
present at the meeting and the general figure of inter- 
est. . . Mrs. Campbell, though eighty years old, 
is still vigorous."! At the laying of the corner stone 
of the "Garfield Memorial Church," Mr. Hinsdale, the 
President of Hiram College, Ohio — Campbellite, as 
reported in the Globe-Democrat, "then delivered an 
address of great length, giving the history of the 
Christian Church, (Campbellite) from the organiza- 
tion, at Washington, Pa., by Thos. Campbell, father 
of Alex. Campbell, to the present time." "John 
Burns has brought out a fine book, 'The Home Life 
and Reminiscences of Alex. Campbell.' Campbell was 
the founder of the denomination known by his name, 
and also as Christians and Disciples." — Globe-Demo- 
crat. [My italics] . 

f An able writer, commenting on this, well says : u As this wo- 
man was the second wife of the father of the Campbellite 
Church she may be regarded as the step-mother of that Church." 



32 



OKIGIN OF THE 



Webster's Unabridged Dictionary: — "Campbellite — 
[From the Rev. Alex. Campbell, of Virginia.] (Eccl. 
Hist.) One of a sect . . who considers all other 
Christians as having departed from the simplicity of 
the Gospel." See Jeter on Campbellism, p. 16, etc; 
Life and Times of Elder Reuben Ross, pp. 359 — 362. 
For farther illustrations upon this point see chap. 2. 

I have 9 seemingly, — to some — multiplied, to a need- 
less extent, the testimonies and the illustrations to 
Alexander Campbell being the founder of the Camp- 
bellite Church. But, I have done so, because some 
Campbellites are ever ready to deny that Alexander 
Campbell is the father of their church. They deny it 
because its admission exposes the absurdity of the Camp- 
bellite statement, that the Campbellite Church was 
" organized on the day of Pentecost." At the same 
time, to not deny it, is to admit the Campbellite Church 
1800 years too young to be the Christian Church. Its 
admission, also, proves the Campbellite Church is not 
the Christian Church, inasmuch as the Christian 
Church was founded by Jesus Christ, not by A. Camp- 
bell. 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH. 



33 



CHAPTER II. 

HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN OF CAMPBELLISM. CONTINUED. 

Section I. The Campbells began and carried 
forward their new Church, on nearly all the same princi- 
ples and the same profession with ivhich B. W. Stone 
began and carried on his. 

The origin and the foundation of the new Church of 
the Campbells are : 

1. Baptismal regeneration. 

2. Denial of the Scriptural doctrine of human 
depravity. 

3. Denial of the Scriptural doctrine of the Spirit of 
God regenerating the soul. 

4. Denial of faith as "a gift of God." 

5. Repudiating Confessions of Faith. 

6. Taking certain true or imaginary Scriptural 
names for the Church, as a means of uniting all pro- 
fessors of Christianity into one Church, and as making 
it a true Church. 

7. The common foundation of sect builders, viz : the 
assumed harlotry or apostasy of the blessed Bride of 
Christ— the Church of Christ. 

8. As to the position of the sect of Campbell on the 
Deity of Christ and the Atonement, it is such a con- 



34 



ORIGIN OF THE 



tro verted question as to what it does believe, that I 
leave that for another connection. 

9. Like Stonism, Campbellism came out from the 
Presbyterian Church. 

10. Like Stonism, Campbellism began with infant 
and adult rantism.t 

Says Mr. Campbell: "Infant baptism and infant 
sprinkling, with all infantile imbecility, immediately 
expired in our minds . . This foundation of the 
Pedobaptist temple being instantly destroyed, the 
whole edifice leaning upon it become aheap of ruins." 
Christian 8 y stem pp. 9, 10. So Mr. Haley says of 
the Campbells : 

"Both members of the Presbyterian Church, and 
accepting in the main the doctrines of the confession, 
they did not, at this time, seem to entertain the remotest 
idea that their principles would lead them to the 
renunciation of Pr esby terianism . ' ' — In Globe-Demo- 
crat. 

As the nine points, above enumerated, are to supply 
the principal subjects for notice in this book, I have 
not deemed it expedient to here supply the proof that 
they were and are the doctrines of Campbellism, as 
begun by the Campbells. In the chapters devoted to 
them the reader will find the most overwhelming proof 
that they were the doctrines of the Campbells, and are 
the doctrines of the Campbellite Church. 



fFrom rantismos ( pavzio/jioq) sprinkling. 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH, 



35 



Section II. 1. The Campbellite Church began as a 
mere experiment and project. 

Says A. Campbell : ' 6 None of us, who got up or sus- 
tained that project, was then aware what havoc that 
said principle, if faithfully applied, would have made 
of our views and practices on various points. When 
we take a close retrospective view of the last thirty 
years . . . we know not how to express our 
astonishment better than," etc., — Christian System, 
p. 6. (My italics.) 

Webster defines "project" : ' 'That which is pro- 
jected or designed ; a scheme ; a design ; something in- 
tended or devised ; a contrivance. An idle scheme ; a 
design not practicable ; as, a man given to projects." 
Crabb, one of the highest authorities upon the En- 
glish language, says: "A project consists most in 
speculation." — Eng. Synonyms. Webster: "An in- 
genious man has many projects, but if governed by 
sound sense will be slow in forming them into de- 
signs." — Die. Rogers: "In the various projects 
designed for human happiness, devised by human rea- 
son, there appeared inconsistencies not to be recon- 
ciled." — Idem. Whichever sense Mr. Campbell used 
the word "project" is equally fatal to the claims of 
the Campbellite Church, that it is the Christian Church. 
If in the better sense, surely it is fatal to the claim ; 
since the Christian Church was never "got up" by 
man, and is not a human "scheme," "design," "con- 
trivance." Whichever sense Mr. Campbell intended 



36 



ORIGIN OF THE 



for 4 'project," it is certainly true of the Campbellite 
Church ia both senses. Mr. Campbell proceeds : "The 
application of the principle already stated trimmed us 
so naked that we strongly inclined to suspect its fal- 
lacy" — By the way, does not this look very much like 
the pretension of Campbellism, that it is guided by the 
Bible, is true? — "and had well-nigh abandoned it as a 
deceitful speculation." Eeader, let me stop and ask 
you, before God : Do you think the Church of Jesus 
Christ originated in this manner? Mr. Campbell con- 
tinues : "Time, however, that great teacher," — all 
this time, Mr. Campbell was professing to be guided by 
the Bible as his teacher ! — "and experience, that great 
critic, have fully assured us that the principle is a sal- 
utary one ; and that, although we seemingly lose much 
by its application, our loss consists only in barren opin- 
ions, fruitless speculations, and useless traditions" — a, 
glorious ( ?) origin for the Christian Church ! — "that 
only cumber the ground and check the word, so that 

it is in a good measure unfruitful We were 

not, indeed, at first apprised of the havoc which our 

principles would make upon our opinions 

Hence, since we put to sea on board this bottom, we 
have been compelled to throw overboard some opinions 
once as dear to us as they now are to those who never 
thought of the difference between principle and opin- 
ion." — Christian System, pp. 7, 9. 

2. The Campbellite Church began with infant- 
rantism. Says A. Campbell, of its history: "Infant 



CAMPBELL1TE CHURCH. 



37 



baptism and infant sprinkling, with all infantile imbe- 
cility, immediately expired in our minds." — Christian 
System, pp. 9, 10. 

3. The Campbellite Church began with "infantile 
imbecility" — whatever that may be. See last quota- 
tion. 

4. The Campbellite Church began with "fruitless 
speculations ," "barren opinions" and useless tradi- 
tions." — Alex. Campbell's words, quoted under point 
" 1" — above. 

Whatever may have been the vagaries of the early 
Christian disciples, pray, where is the record of Jesus 
Christ having begun His Church with infant rantism, or 
infant baptism, either,— with "infantile imbecility," 
with "fruitless speculations," "barren opinions," 
"useless traditions" and as a "project" and an "experi- 
ment" ? 

5. The Campbellite Church began with the "foun- 
dation of the Pedobaptist temple" and ivas, finally, 
built of much of its material, gathered by its founders, 
from "the ruins." 

Says Alexander Campbell : "This foundation of the 
Pedobaptist temple being instantly destroyed, the 
whole edifice leaning upon it became a heap of ruins. 
We explored the ruins with great assiduity, and col- 
lected from them all the materials that could be work- 
ed into the Christian temple." —Christian System p. 10. 
(My italics. ) Baptismal regeneration, taking the gov- 
ernment of the Church out of the hands of the peo- 



38 



ORIGIN OF THE 



pie, etc., I will prove — see chaps. 12 and 30 of this 
book,— were some of the materials " worked into" 
Campbellism. How the Campbells could have imag- 
ined, or their followers can imagine a Church, with such 
an origin, the Church of Christ, can be accounted for 
only by the certain fact that their pretension, that they 
take the Bible as their rule of faith and practice, is a 
delusion. No wonder Alex. Campbell wrote that they 
were 6 6 strongly inclined to suspect its fallacy and had 
well nigh abandoned it as a deceitful speculation." — 
Idem, p. 7. When the Campbells were building 
Campbellism what a pity they had not abandoned the 
work, to be really guided by the Bible words : "For 
other foundation can no man lay than that which is 
laid''' — 1800 years before the Campbells undertook to 
build the temple of God — "which is Jesus Christ;" 
"if any man shall add unto them God shall add unto 
him the plagues which are written in this book." — 1 
Cor. 3:11; Rev. 22: 18. 

6. Tlie Campbellite Church began with repudiat- 
ing and scoffing at Bible Societies, Missionary Socie- 
ties, Educational Societies, Tract Societies, Sunday- 
schools, etc., and with teaching men to live unto them- 
selves. 

Says Mr. Jeter : "When Mr. Campbell commenced 
his Reformation he found various benevolent or relig- 
ious associations in existence, having for their object 
the diffusion of Divine truth and the extension of the 
kingdom of the Messiah. Among these institutions 



CAMPBELL ITE CHURCH. 



39 



we may mention Mission, Bible, Tract, and Educa- 
tional Societies and Sunday-schools, whose titles indi- 
cate, with sufficient precision, to the common reader, 
their respective spheres of operation. The objects 
contemplated by these associations were of the highest 
importance, and appealed most powerfully to the sym- 
pathies and liberality of the pious. It were uncandid to 
deny that they originated with wise and good men, in 
the love of the truth, and in an earnest desire to pro- 
mote the salvation of sinners, and the glory of the 
Redeemer, that they were sustained by the generous 
sacrifices, fervent prayers, and self-denying, and, in 
some cases, heroic labors of their friends ; and that 
they have been successful in a measure, corresponding 
with these toils and sacrifices, and adapted to inspire 
the gratitude for the past, and confidence in regard to 
the future. . . Mr. Campbell commenced his edi- 
torial career with pretty strong opposition to these re- 
ligious enterprises. "—Jeter on Campbellism, p. 44. 

Says Alex. Campbell : "The success of all modern 
missionaries is in accordance with these facts. They 
have, in some instances, succeeded in persuading some 
individuals to put on a sectarian profession of Chris- 
tianity. As the different philosophers, in ancient na- 
tions, succeeded in persuading a few disciples to their 
respective systems, each new one making inroads upon 
his predecessors, so have the modern missionaries suc- 
ceeded in making a few proselytes to their systems, 
from amongst the disciples of the different pagan sys- 



40 



ORIGIN OF THE 



terns of theology." — Christian Baptist, pp. 14, 15. 
This is, substantially, the outcry of avowed infidels 
against missions. Hence Jeter says of Campbell : 

' 'Whatever was published in infidel or semi-infidel 
papers in disparagement of missionaries was promptly 
transferred to the columns of the Christian Baptist — 
Campbell's organ — without comment, or with appro- 
bation ; while allusions to the self-denials, toils, suffer- 
ings and successes of missionaries were studiously 
omitted. Mr. Campbell's chief instrument in opposing 
Christian missions and promoting his Reformation was 
caricaturing — an art, for which his genius peculiarly 
him." — Jeter on Campbellism, p. 48. 

I copy a specimen of A. Campbell's 6 ' caricaturing" 
of missions, which will show that Mr. Jeter did 
not use too strong language : 

"What charity, what lawless charity, would it require 
to believe that a Reverend Divine, for instance, coming 
to Pittsburgh, some time since, under the character 
of a missionary, and after 6 preaching four sermons' of 
scholastic divinity to a few women and children in the 
remote corners of the city, called on the treasurer of 
the missionary fund of that place, and actually drew 
forty dollars for the four sermons : I say, what law- 
less charity would it require to consider such a man 
a servant of Jesus Christ, possessed by the spirit of 
Paul, Peter, or any of the true missionaries ! ! . . . 
Ten dollars for a sermon one hour long ! preached to 
the heathen in the city of Pittsburgh, by a regularly 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH. 



41 



educated, pious, missionary!! How many widow's 
mites, how many hard earned charities, were swallowed 
up in one hour by this gormandizer ! ! Tell it not in 
Gath. Publish it not in the streets of Askelon. ' But,' 
says an apologist, 4 it took the good man a week to 
study it ; besides he gaye them prayers into the 
bargain.' A week to study a sermon! for a graduate 
of a college too ! ! AVhy, his sermon was not worth a 
cent ! There is not a lawyer in Pittsburgh who could 
not prepare an orthodox sermon in a week, and deliyer 
it handsomely, too, for ten dollars. From the prayers 
and sermons of such missionaries may the pagans be 
long preserved, „ = . Indeed, I think we hay e few 
men of any information who would come forwaxxl 
openly to defend the plan of saying the world by means 
of money and science ; of conyerting pagans by funds 
raised indirectly from spinning wheels, fruit stalls, 
corn fields, melon patches, potato lots, rags, children's 
play things, and religious newspapers, consecrated to 
missionary purposes ; and from funds raised directly 
by begging from everybody, of eyery creed and of no 
creed whatever. By sending men out to preach 
begging sermons, and to tell the people of A's mission- 
ary patch of potatoes producing twice as much per 
acre, as those destined for himself and children; of 
B's uncommon crop of missionary wheat, a part of 
which he covetously alieniated from the missionary to 
himself, and as a judgment upon him, his cow broke 
into his barn and ate of it till she killed herself ; of 



42 



ORIGUST OF THE 



E's missionary sheep having each yeaned hina two 
lambs apiece, while his own only yeaned him one 
apiece ; and a variety of other miracles wrought in 
favor of the missionary fund." — Christian Baptist, 
pp 53, 54c 

"Our objection to the missionary plan originated in 
a conviction that it is unauthorized by the New Testa- 
ment ; and that in many instances it is a system of 
iniquitous peculation and speculation." — Idem, p. 53. 

"An attempt to convert Pagans and Mahometans to 
believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the 
sent of the Father, until Christians are united, is also 
an attempt to frustrate the prayer of the Messiah, to 
subvert his throne and government. "Idem, p. 135. 

"The bible, then, gives us no idea of a missionary 
without the power of working miracles. Miracles and 
missionaries are inseparably connected in the New 
Testament." — Idem, p. 15. "I honestly confess that 
the popular clergy and their schemes appear to me 
fraught with mischief" — what every infidel lecturer 
and paper of our land say and have said for years, so 

far as our temporal interests are concerned "to 

the temporal and eternal interests of men. • . . The 
bible cannot be disseminated without their popular 
appendages, and if children are taught to read in their 
Sunday Schools, their pockets must be filled with re- 
ligious tracts, the object of which is either directly or 
indirectly to bring them under the domination of some 
creed or sect. Even the distribution of the Bible to 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH. 



43 



the poor must be followed up with those tracts, as if 
the bible dare not be trusted in the hands of a lay- 
man" — Mr. Campbell seems to have overlooked this 
when he sent out his publications ! — "without a priest 
or his representative at his elbow. It is on this ac- 
count that I have, for some time, viewed both 'bible 
societies' and ' Sunday Schools' as a sort of recruiting 
establishments, to fill up the ranks of those sects which 
take the lead in them. It is true that w r e rejoice to see 
the bible" — These small b's to Bible and Bible Socie- 
ties are Mr. Campbell's — "spread and the poor taught 
to read by those means ; but notwithstanding this we 
ought not, as we conceive, to suffer the policy of many 
engaged therein to pass unnoticed, or to refrain from 
putting those on their guard who are likely to be 
caught by the 'slight of men and cunning craftiness." 
— Idem, p. 80. 

In the early period of Campbell's Church building, 
Colleges came in for their share of his abuse. He 
said : "The Baptists, too, have got their schools, their 
Colleges and their Gamaliels, too — and by the magic of 
these marks of the beast, they claim homage and re- 
spect, and dispute the high places with those very 
Eabbis whose fathers were wont to grin at their fath- 
ers."— Quoted on p. 345 of Jeter on Campbellism, from 
Mill. Harb., vol. 1, p. 15. A few years after this 
the founder of the Campbellite Church took "the mark 
of the beasf'upon himself, by being placed at the head 
of Bethany College. 



44 



ORIGIN OF THE 



The result of this warfare on all good institutions 
was to create and foster covetousness and wither the 
influences of Church work to an extent that only the 
Great Day can reveal. A correspondent of Mr. 
Campbell's paper writes him : 

"My dear sir, you have begun wrong, if your ob- 
ject is reformation. Never attack the principle which 
multiplies the number of Bibles, or which promotes 
the preaching of the gospel or the support of it, if 
you desire Christianity to prevail. As I informed you 
when here, I repeat it again, your opposition to a 
preached gospel, to the preachers and Bible Societies, 
secures to you the concurrence of the covetous , the ig- 
norant^ the prayerless and the Christless Christian. 
These are not the expressions of one who has any interest 
in defending the kingdom of the clergy, or the hireling 
system, but of one who, like yourself, has been provi- 
dentially thrown into the possession of a competency 
of the good things of this world. I am as anxious as 
you can be for the correction of all errors, but in mak- 
ing the correction, or in arriving at it — spare, I bs- 
seech you, the grand means that God has employed and 
is still using for extending Christ's kingdom — I mean 
a preached gospel." — Christian Baptist, p. 70. (My 
Italics.) 

Said the editor — D. S. Burnet — in his "Preface to the 
Eighth Edition' ' of the Christian Baptist : 4 ' Sometimes 
the institutions" — as noticed in the preceding — "them- 
selves confounded with such abuses, shared in their 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH. 



45 



general condemnation, and the position oimany of our 
Churches was quite equivocal on the whole subject of 
general organizations for Bible and missionary pur- 
poses. . . . But the feeling on this subject has 
been modified for the better. We now have our bible, 
missionary and tract institutions, and Brother Camp- 
bell himself has accepted the presidency of one of 
them. With very little exception our brethren are 
warmly advocating and aiding to sustain them. 9 ' — (My 
Italics.) To some extent Mr. Burnet is correct in his 
statement, that the Campbellite Church has abandoned 
the ground which its founder at first occupied. But 
their denomination, to-day, is nearly split by two par- 
ties ; one of which proposes to repudiate Campbellism, 
indorse the terrible ( ?) institutions which Mr. Camp- 
bell so maligned ; the other of which proposes to stand 
by the old Campbellite banner. Thus, the American 
Christian Review bewails the Campbellite times : 

"Little did this great reformer"— Mr. Campbell — 
6 ' dream that in less than one decade after his demise 
there would be found in existence eight, distinct and 
separate missionary organizations, operating independ- 
ently of the Church of Jesus Christ , and hooting at the 
idea of Scriptural authority for maintaining such insti- 
tutions, and that a 'Ministerial Association,' separate 
and apart from the common membership of the Church, 
would be found in nearly every Congressional district 
in some five or six states ; to say nothing of Sunday 
School Institutes, separate and apart from the Church, 



ORIGIN OF THE 



and run in the interests of a select few of self-ap- 
pointed officers, who, in the name of the Church would 
seek to make merchandise of the gospel of the Son of 

God ! It is getting to be an alarming fact 

that the congregations which refuse to come under the 
lash of society managers are proscribed as 'anti-mis- 
sionary,' and reproached as mean and gingerly, 
Let it be understood, far and near, that the A. C. Re- 
view stands on the old ground, where the fathers of 
this Reformation stood." The paper, just quoted, 
was the organ of Benjamin Franklin — the great Camp- 
bellite 6 'champion" — during his life time; and it is 
one of the oldest and most influential of Campbellite 
papers. 

The explanation of the whole of it, I think, is : At 
the beginning of his new church Mr. Campbell found 
every good institution under the control of other de- 
nominations. Thejr, therefore, were a great hindrance 
to his 4 'project." He, therefore, made war on them, 
intending, as soon as he could, to have such institu- 
tions in his own Church. But, when he was able to 
build them up he found that many of his people re- 
fused to abandon their founder's first teaching. To 
this was due the fact that Mr. Campbell's College — 
Bethany — came near being financially crushed, after 
his death. There may have been still another object 
in Mr. Campbell's opposition to these institutions. 
That was, to draw after him the covetous of the differ- 
ent denominations ; as many of them would gladly 



J 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH. 



accept a Church which was likely to cost them little or 
nothing, t 

What may be the doubtful position of the Camp- 
bellite Church, as to Mr. Campbell's opposition to Bi- 
ble, Missionary, Tract and other Societies, I do not 
say. But, I have written what I have written, upon 
this point, for but one end, viz., to show the character 
of the founder of the Campbellite Church and of its 
beginning. If a stream cannot rise above its fountain, 
I ask, can an institution with such a founder and such 
a beginning be the "Christian Church?" Does its 
origin, in this regard, look like the origin of the New 
Testament Church? Who will deny that Christ's 
words, 4 4 Ye shall know them by their fruits" — Matt. 
7 : 15-1 8 — are applicable to the beginning of Camp- 
bellism, as the answer as to its claims that it is the 
"Christian Church?" 

fDoubtless, many of Mr. Campbell's "Baptist* ' converts were 
so obtained. In that respect Mr. Campbell was a blessing to the 
Baptist Church, as the only pity is, that all such do not go to 
some new sect, or let God convert them. So far as Baptists were 
influenced by Mr. Campbell's opposition to these institutions, he 
was a bane to them. 



48 



ORIGIN OF THE 



CHAPTER HI. 

HISTORY OF THE CAMPBELLITE CHURCH CONTINUED. 

Iii this Chapter 1 will notice only the relation of the 
Campbells' new Church, in its early history, to the 
Baptist Church. 

1. In Chapter II, we saw that the Campbells were 
Scotch Presbyterians — the 6 6 blue stocking" ones at 
that. A. Campbell says : "I commenced my career 
in this country under the conviction that nothing that 
was not as old as the New Testament should be made 
an article of faith, a rule of practice, or a term of com- 
munion amongst Christians. In conformity to the 
grand principle .... I was led to question the 
claims of infant sprinkling, and was, after a long, seri- 
ous and prayerful examination, led to solicit immersion 
on a profession of my faith, when I scarce knew a 
Baptist from Washington to the Ohio, in the immedi- 
ate region of my labors, and when I did not know 
that any friend or relation on earth would concur with 
me" — Christian Baptist, p. 92. Mr. Campbell's 
eagerness to set himself forth as such a bold, disinter- 
ested seeker for truth led him to make an erroneous 
statement, in the italicised words ( my italics ), as the 
same eagerness led him into innumerable erroneous 
principles, avowals and professions, during his whole 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH. 



49 



career. For Prof. K. Richardson, of Bethany College, 
one of Mr. Campbell's ecclesiastical sons, writes that 
at the time he sought immersion: ' 'Upon stating to 
his oldest sister his conclusions, and his intention to 
comply with what he conceived to be the requisitions of 
the gospel, she informed him that her convictions and 
intentions had for some time been the same; and, upon 
stating the matter to their father, he proposed that 
they should send for a Baptist preacher, and attend 
upon the ministration of the ordinance in the immedi- 
ate region of their labors." — Religious Denom.p. 226. 
(My italics.) This error, in Mr. Campbell's state- 
ment, is of no significance, save as showing the tend- 
ency in Mr. Campbell to make extravagant assertions, 
especially when they would enhance his own cause or 
honor ; and which shows that we can hardly credit his 
claims to be the founder of the Church of Christ. Mr. 
Campbell continues : ' 'I was accordingly baptised by 
Elder Matthias Luse, who was accompanied by Elder 
Henry Spears, on the 12th day of June, 1812." — 
Christian Baptist, p. 92. Mr. Campbell omits, in 
this connection, to state that, near two years before, 
the Campbells had organized a new Church. Prof. 
Richardson says : 

' 6 An application was made to the pious of all parties 
in the vicinity, and a 'declaration and address drawn 
up and printed,' in which all were invited to form a 
union upon the principles. . . . A considerable 
number of individuals responded to this appeal, and a 



50 



ORIGIN OF THE 



congregation was immediately organized upon Brush 
Run, in Washington County, on the 7th of September, 
1810, where a house of worship was erected, and where 
ministerial duties were performed conjointly by T. 
Campbell and his son Alexander, who had been duly 
ordained pastors of the Church." — Religious Denom. 
p. 225. 

In his lectures on Campbellism, 4 'Elder T. P. 
Haley," pastor, a few ;years ago, in St. Louis, gives 
the same facts, but dates the same organization in 
1809, instead of in 1810, as Mr. Richardson does. — 
Globe-Democrat. 

Mr. Frederick D. Powers, the Campbellite pastor at 
Washington, at the time of President Garfield's death, 
dates the organization of this sect, "May 4, 1811, with 
thirty-one members" — Schaff-Herzog Ency.^p. 644. 
Whichever of these three dates is the true one matters 
not, since the three agree in dating the organization of 
the first Campbellite Church before Mr. Campbell's 
baptism. The Schaff-Herzog Ency., p. 377, agrees 
with the three in dating the founding of Mr. Camp- 
bell's Church before he was baptized by Eld. Luse ; 
and Mr. Jeter's statement admits of no other mean- 
ing. — Jeter on C 'ampbellism , p . 16. This, Professor 
Richardson says, "was the humble origin of a refor- 
mation, now widely extended." — Relig. Denom., p. 
225. We thus see that Campbellism originated from 
Presbyterianism ; that its origin is in no way, of the 
Baptist Church. 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH. 



51 



The Campbellites were then so far from being Bap- 
tists that A. Campbell says : **I did not, at first, con- 
template forming any connexion with the Regular 
Baptist Association called the 'Red Stone,' as the per- 
fect independency of the Church and the pernicious 
tendency of human creeds and terms of communion 
were subjects to me of greatest concern." — Christian 
Baptist, p. 92. "But scarcely had I begun to make 
sermons when I discovered that the religion of the 
New Testament was one thing, and that of any sect 
which I knew was another."— Christian Baptist, p. 
664. As he called the Baptists a "sect," of course 
he could never have been a Baptist. "When pressed 
by some influential Baptists in the city of New York 
and Philadelphia, in the year 1816" — four years after 
his baptism, and three years after he had united with 
the "Red Stone Association" — "to settle in one of 
those cities, I declined the friendly offers and kind 
persuasions . . alleging that I could not take the 
charge of any church in those cities, because I did not 
think that they would submit to the government of 
Jesus Christ, or to the primitive order of things." 
Christian Baptist, p. 664. Prof. Richardson says 
they were "disinclined to a combination with any re- 
ligious party." — Relig. JDenom., p. 226. Mr. Fan- 
ning, a leading Campbellite, editor of the Gospel Ad- 
vocate, in a sketch of A. Campbell's biography, says : 
"As intimated, he fraternized with the Baptists for 
quite a number of years ; but while he was among 



ORIGIN OF THE 



them it scarcely could be said that he was one of 
them." — Gospel Advocate, 1866, p. 453, quoted. 

2. The Campbellite Church uniting with the Red 
Stone Baptist Association. That A. Campbell, as a 
condition to his baptism, gave Eld. Luse some reason 
to believe he intended to live the Baptist or New Tes- 
tament faith, is probable. The Baptists, then, being 
fully as strict — if not stricter — as they now are, it is 
much more probable that Mr. Campbell professed, or 
made believe he professed, the Baptist faith, than that 
Elders Luse and Spear sanctioned his baptism to 
preach and live Campbellism. Mr. Campbell's course, 
in uniting with the "Red Stone" Baptist Association, 
makes this more than probable. 

Mr. Campbell says: "As a mere spectator I did, 
however, visit the Red Stone Association in the fall of 

1812. After a more particular acquaintance with 
some of the members and ministers of that connex- 
ion, the Church at Brush Run did finally agree to 
unite with that Association on the ground that no 
terms of communion other than the Holy Scriptures 
should be required. On this ground, after present- 
ing A WRITTEN DECLARATION OF OUR BELIEF ( alway S 

distinguishing betwixt making a declaration of our 
faith for the satisfaction of others, and binding that 
declaration on others as a term of communion,) we 
united with the Red Stone Association in the fall of 

1813. " — Christian Baptist, p. 92. (Capital letters 
mine.) 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH. 



53 



So, Mr. Jeter says : ' 'Presenting a written declara- 
tion of their faith, they were received in the fall of 
1813." — Jeter on Campbellism, p. 16. Now, be it 
noted : Baptist Churches have never professed any 
other terms of communion than those of the New Tes- 
tament ; have never baptized into any other than the 
New Testament faith ; have never professed any other 
than the Bible alone, as their only " rule of faith and 
practice," and have ever held that creeds and confes- 
sions are to be used only for the purpose "of making a 
declaration of our faith for the satisfaction of others."! 
Hence, Mr. Campbell's Church was received into the 
Red Stone Association 6 6 after presenting a ivritten dec- 
laration of our belief" — his own words — just as all 
other churches are received into Baptist Associations. 
As no Church can unite with a Baptist Association 
without "presenting a written declaration of our be- 
lief," Mr. Campbell's Church was required to present 
one. As to what that "written declaration of our be- 
lief " was, the very fact of its being necessary, before 
he could unite with the Association, is sufficient evi- 
dence that it impressed the Association as a sound 
Baptist "declaration of our belief." The Associa- 
tion, as do all Baptist Associations, required the "dec- 
laration" for no other purpose than to guard itself 
against receiving into its body a heretical Church. 
Mr. Campbell's Campbellite Church, therefore, be- 

t The reader is requested to turn to Chapter 33, of this book, 
where he will find this overwhelmingly proved. 



54 



ORIGIN OF THE 



y ond a reasonable doubt, united with the Red Stone 
Association, pretending that it was a sound Baptist 
Church. 

3. The Campbellite Church excluded f rom Baptist 
fellowship. 

Paul said: ' 'Because of certain false brethren priv- 
ily brought in, who come in privily to spy out our 
liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might 
bring us into bondage." — Gal. 2:4. Jude said: 
"There are certain men crept in privily." — Jude 4. 
In the "1" part of this Chapter we saw that the 
Campbells were far from being Baptists ; that they 
were only wandering stars from the Presbyterian firm- 
ament. In the "2" part of this Chapter we have 
seen that, on a Baptist "declaration of our faith" they 
"crept" into the Red Stone Baptist Association. In 
"1" of this Chapter, we saw that Mr. Campbell says 
that after he had united with the Red Stone Associa- 
tion, he declined calls from Baptist Churches in Phila- 
delphia and New York, because he w r as not a Baptist. 
So, it is clear that he and his Church presented & Bap- 
tist "declaration of our faith, "and united with a Bap- 
tist Association while they were CampbeMitest 

Says Prof. Richardson : "For though disinclined to 
a combination with any party, known as such, they 
deemed the principle of the Baptists favorable to refor- 
mation and religious freedom, and believed that they 
had it in their power to preserve their independence as 
a Church, and the integrity of the principles of their 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH. 



55 



first organization, a connexion with the Baptists would 
afford them a more extended field of usefulness. Ac- 
cordingly, in the fall of 1813, they were received into 
the Bed Stone Association."- — Relig. Denom, p. 226. 
(My italics.) 

Says Mr. Campbell : "When we drew up our pros- 
pectus for our first publication, we headed it the 
'Christian,' and had it not been that we found our- 
selves anticipated (?) we should have adhered to the 
title. I hesitated between the title 'Baptist Christian' 
and 'Christian Baptist,' and on suggesting my embar- 
rassment to a friend, who has since given himself due 
credit for the hint as an original idea, he thought the 
latter, [Christian Baptist] was a better passport to 
favor than either of the others. We never fully ap- 
proved, but from expediency adopted it " — Mill. Harb. 
If. S.vol. 3. p. 338— quoted on page 41 of Text 
Booh on Campbellism. (My Italics. ) Thus it is seen 
that Mr, Campbell's course, in uniting with the Red 
Stone Association, proves, and Prof. Richardson says 
so, it was to give Campbellism a "more extended field 
of usefulness ;" and in the same spirit, Mr. Campbell 
named his first publication — as a "passport to 
favor" — "from expediency adopted it." The 
first Campbellite Church and its founder, there- 
fore, did not hesitate to profess and adopt views and 
names which they hated, because they "would afford 
them a more extended field of usefulness 9 ' and be a 
better "passport to favor." For exactly the same 



56 



ORIGIN OF THE 



designs, Paul and Jude say "false brethren' ' "crept" 
into the Baptist Churches of their day. As we 
could but expect, once among Baptists, Mr. Campbell 
began to carry out the purpose he had in joining them. 

Prof. Richardson says : "The novelty of these 
simple views of Christianity, which Alexander Camp- 
bell as a messenger of the Church at Brush Run, urged 
with ability upon the Association, began immediately 
to excite considerable stir in that body. . . . With 
more liberal minded Baptists, however, Mr. Camp- 
bell's views gradually prevailed." 

Attributing it to "jealousy," Prof. Richardson says, 
"some leading members of the Red Stone Association" 
led them to inveigh against his principles as innovating 
and disorganizing ; and finally created so much dissen- 
sion in that body, and so much animosity towards the 
Church at Brush Run, that the latter, in order to avoid 
its effects, dismissed about thirty members, including 
Alexander Campbell, to Wellsburg, Virginia, where 
they were constituted as a new Church, and upon ap- 
plication, were admitted into the Mahoning Associa- 
tion of Ohio, with some of whose members they had 
already formed a favorable intimacy." — Relig. De- 
nom. p. 227. 

One, who lived at that time, gives us some wise 
statements on this matter: — "Admitting the Baptists 
to be harmless as doves, they certainly were not wise as 
serpents. For, unlike the Presbyterians and Seceders, 
they received them with open arms, and rejoiced, no 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH. 



doubt, at having in their number, those two able 
preachers. But this proved to be a fatal step to them, 
and was the 'beginning of their end.' 'The fatal ma- 
chine had entered their city.' Elder A. Campbell 
soon preached doctrines that sounded strange in their 
old Baptist ears. By some these new doctrines were 
approved, by others condemned, and war was inaugu- 
rated. Those opposed to Elder Campbell's views, at 
one time thought they had matured a plan to excom- 
municate him, or throw him overboard, as the fright- 
ened mariners did Jonah of old, during the storm that 
threatened them with destruction. But they little 
knew their man. When they were about to take the 
vote for this purpose, they found that Jonah had 
already gone on board another ship that was nearby, — 
that is, had transferred himself to the Mahoning As- 
sociation, and thereby having checkmated his adver- 
saries^ Dr. Bichardson says, was out of their jurisdic- 
tion and still in the Baptist denomination. Still the 
fight went bravely on among the Bed Stone people, 
long after their cause had left them, and it continued 
until scarce a vestige of the Bed Stone Association was 
left." — Life and Times of Elder Reuben Moss, p. 364. 

The peril of the Bed Stone Association is a sad re- 
minder of Baul's " perils among false brethren ;" and 
of his exhortation: "Now we command you brethren 
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye with- 
draw yourselves from every brother that walketh dis- 
orderly and not after the tradition which they received 




58 



ORIGIN OF THE 



from us."— 2 Cor. 11: 26; 2 Thess. 3:6. By his 
cunning transference of his membership from the Red 
Stone Association to the Mahoning, A. Campbell 
saved himself from receiving the punishment which 
Paul, in the above quoted Scripture enjoins. But, 
whether it is not more manly to stand and meet jus- 
tice than to flee from it, as did Mr. Campbell, I leave 
to the reader. 

Prof. Richardson says: 1 'It was but a short time, 
however, until the abandonment of usages being cher- 
ished by the Baptists, and the introduction of views 
and practices not commonly received among them, 
gave rise to so much umbrage and opposition on the 
part of the adjoining churches, composing the Bea- 
ver (?) Association; that this body were induced, be- 
ing not a little influenced also by the persevering hos- 
tility of that of the Red Stone, to denounce as hereti- 
cal, and exclude from their fellowship, all those 
churches which had favored the views of the reformers. 
The schism thus produced was soon extended to Ken- 
tucky, to eastern Virginia, and, in short, to all those 
Baptist churches and associations into which the views 
of Mr. Campbell had been introduced by his debates 
and meetings ; the Baptists in all cases separating from 
their communion all who favored the sentiments of the 
Disciples." — Religious Denominations, p. 227. 

Prof. Richardson probably should have said the 
Dover Association, instead of the Beaver Association. 
In 1832, the Dover Association — of Va., organized in 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH, 



59 



1788, and was too well established in Bible doctrine to 
be carried away by Carupbellisra — met at Four Mile 
Creek Church, in Henrico County, Ya., not far from 
the city of Richmond. During the session of the 
Association a committee on Campbellism was appointed, 
composed of Elders John Kerr, Jas. B. Taylor, Peter 
Ainslie, J. B. Jeter, and Phillip Montague. The 
report of this able and judicious committee was adopted 
by the Association, and approved by the Churches. 

We quote from the report as follows : 

' 'The select committee appointed to consider and 
report what ought to be done in reference to the new 
doctrines and practices which have disturbed the peace 
and harmony of some of the Churches composing this 
Association; met at the house of Eld. Miles Turpin, 
and having invited and obtained the aid and counsel of 
Elders Andrew Broaddus, Eli Ball, John Micou, TTrn. 
Hill, Miles Turpin, and brother Erastus T. Montague, 
after due deliberation, respectfully report the following 
preamble and resolution for the consideration and 
adoption of the Asssociation : ' This Association, having 
been from its origin, blessed with uninterrupted 
harmony and a high degree of religious prosperity, has 
seen with unspeakable regret, within a few years past, 
the spirit of speculation, controversy and strife, grow- 
ing up among some of the ministers and churches 
within its bounds. This unhappy state of things has 
evidently been produced by the preaching and writing 
of Alexander Campbell, and his adherents. After 



60 



ORIGIN OF THE 



having deliberately and prayerfully examined the 
doctrines held and promulgated by them, and waited 
long to witness their practical influence on the 
Churches, and upon society in general, we are thorough- 
ly convinced that they are doctrines not according to 
godliness, but subversive of the true spirit of the 
Gospel of Jesus Christ, disorganizing and demoral- 
izing in their tendency; and, therefore, ought to 
be disavowed and resisted, by all the lovers of truth 
and sound piety. It is needless to specify, and 
refute the errors held and taught by them ; this has 
been often done, and so often have the doctrines, 
quoted from their writings, been denied, with 
the declaration that they have been misrepresented or 
misunderstood. If after more than seven years' inves- 
tigation, the most pious and intelligent men in the land 
are unable to understand what they speak and write, it 
surely is an evidence of some radical defect in the 
things taught, or in the mode of teaching them. Their 
views of sin, faith, repentance, regeneration, baptism, 
the agency of the Holy Spirit, Church government, 
the Christian ministry, and the whole scheme of Chris- 
tian benevolence, are, we believe, contrary to the plain 
letter and spirit of the New Testament of our Lord 
and Savior. — Jeter's Campbellism, pp. 93, 94. 

In the same report, this Committee says: 6 'While 
they arrogate to themselves the title of Eeformers, 
it is lamentably evident, that no sect in Christendom 
needs reformation more than they do." p. 95. 



CAMPBELL1TE CHURCH. 



61 



The excluding resolution reads as follows : 

"We, therefore, the assembled ministers and dele- 
gates of the Dover Association, after much delibera- 
tion, do hereby affectionately recommend to the 
Churches in our connection, to separate from their 
communion all such persons as are promoting contro- 
versy and discord, under the specious name of 
'Reformers.' " — Jeter on Campbellism, p. 97. 

The reader, now, has an undeniable history of the 
relation of the origin of Campbellites to the Baptists. 
Inasmuch as the early history of the Campbellite 
Church to the Baptist is so imperfectly understood, I 
add the following summary : 

First. The Campbells were born and raised Presby- 
terians, of the "blue stocking" kind. Second: The 
Campbells were Presbyterian preachers. Third: The 
Campbells organized Sep. 7, 1810, or near that time, 
a disaffected Presbyterian Church — or a society of 
disaffected Presbyterians — of thirty members. Fourth. 
In June, 1812, A. Campbell, as minister of this 
society, upon a Baptist profession of faith, was 
baptized by Eld. Mathias Luse, a Baptist minister, at 
which baptism was Eld. Henry Spears, who seems to 
have been as well satisfied with Campbell's soundness 
as a Baptist, as was the administrator. Fifth. Mr. 
Campbell then baptized some, and perhaps all, of his 
members. Sixth. Notwithstanding the fact that 
A. Campbell was not a Baptist in belief, his baptizer, 
and other Baptists, were led to believe him a Baptist. 



62 



ORIGIN OF THE 



Seventh. With this belief, he and his Church were 
urged to unite with the Ked Stone Association. 
Eighth. In his own language: " After presenting a 
yjritten declaration of our belief we united with the 
Red Stone Association in the fall of 1813. — Chris. 
Bap. p. 92. (My italics. ) Ninth. Inasmuch as the 
Red Stone Association, in common with other Baptist 
Associations, required this as a test of New Testament 
belief, it is certain that Mr. Campbell impressed the 
Association, in order to his being received, with his 
Church, into its fellowship, that he was a sound Baptist. 
Tenth. A. Campbell, Prof. Richardson, and all testi- 
mony, prove that A. Campbell took this course as "a 
passport to favor" — because he thought "a connexion 
with the Baptists would afford" Campbellites a better 
opportunity of gaining converts to Campbellism . Elev- 
enth. Campbellism is an off-shoot from the Presbyterian 
Church. Twelfth. The Campbells, therefore, never 
were baptists, NEVER MEMBERS OF ANY BAP- 
TIST CHURCH, and they and their disaffected, apos- 
tate Presbyterian Church, by such a "declaration" of 
faith as led the Red Stone Association to believe them 
sound Baptists, "crept" into their body, "to spy out" 
their "liberty" "in Christ Jesus." Gal. 3: 4; Jude 
4. Thirteenth. Discovering themselves about to be 
exposed and excluded from the Red Stone Association, 
the Campbells hastily fled from its body into the 
Mahoning Association, where they had succeeded in 
leading off some from the New Testament faith. 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH. 



63 



Fourteenth. Having thus got a hold among Baptists, 
like his namesake, Alexander the copper-smith, Alex- 
ander Campbell led off many from the faith. 2 Tim. 
4: 14-16. 

Never let it again be said that the Campbells or 
Campbelliteswere ever any part of any Baptist or New 
Testament Church. Fifteenth. The only sense, in 
which the Campbells were "excluded from the Bap- 
tists" is in the exclusion of their followers from the 
Dover and other Associations ; the exclusion of their 
converts — whenever and wherever done — from Baptist 
Churches. This was, practically , an exclusion of the 
Campbells, since it debarred them from communion- 
fellowship with Baptist Churches which they had ob- 
tained as apostate Presbyterians, by creeping into the 
Red Stone Association, with such a "written declara- 
tion of our belief" as led the honest, unsuspecting 
souls, composing its body, to think they were receiv- 
ing to their bosom one "of like faith and order" to 
their own. Over this exclusion Mr. Campbell poured 
out his wrath, because it limited his opportunities of 
destroying the Church of Jesus Christ. 

He wrote : "The long agony is over. The Dover 
Association has assumed the awful responsibility of 
producing a faction : consequently a sect. . . . For 
myself, I feel highly honored in being made the first 
martyr in old Virginia in the present reformation . . . 
It is the highest I ever expected to enjoy in time." — 
Mill. Harb. vol. 4. p. 13 — quoted in Jeter on Camp- 



64 



ORIGIN OF THE 



bellism, p. 101. Mr. Campbell did not so highly prize 
this ' 'honor,'' when he surreptitiously fled from the 
Red Stone Association of Va., to the Mahoning Asso- 
ciation of Ohio ! Or, did he think it was necessary to 
run off, into Ohio, in order to its being the highest 
"honor" to be made the "first martyr in old Virginia" 
in the present Reformation?" 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH. 



65 



CHAPTER IV. 

HISTORY OF THE CAMPBELLITE CHURCH CONTINUED. 

MARRIAGE OF STONISM TO C AMPBELLISM • 

The reader, who has not the history of Stonism most 
clearly in his mind, is requested to now turn back to 
Chapter I of this book, and carefully read it. 

1. Courtship of Stonism and Gampbellism. Says 
B. W. Stone: < 'When he (A. Campbell) came into 
Kentucky I often heard him in public and in private. 
I was pleased with his manner and matter. 
I saw no distinctive feature between the doctrine he 
preached and that which we had preached for many 
years, except on baptism for remission of sins. Even 
this I had once received and taught, as before stated, 
but had strangely let it go from my mind, till Brother 
Campbell revived it afresh. ... In a few things 
I dissented from him, but was agreed to disagree. I 
will not say there are no faults in Brother Campbell ; 
but there are fewer, perhaps, in him, than any man I 
know on earth ; and over those few my love would 
throw a veil and hide them from view forever. I am 
constrained, and willingly constrained, to acknowledge 
him the greatest promoter of this reformation of any 
man living." — Biog. B. W. Stone, by Mathes p. 29. 
From the language above, it is very certain that Mr, 
Campbell had wooed and won, 



66 



ORIGIN OF THE 



2. The Marriage. 

Says J M. Mathes : "In 1826, Bro. Stone com- 
menced the publication of a religious monthly periodi- 
cal, put up in pamphlet form, of twenty-four pages 
per number, called the 'Christian Messenger.' It had 
a good circulation, and no doubt did great good in 
spreading the knowledge of the truth. At the end of 
six years, or in 1832, Elder Johnson became co-editor 
of the Messenger with him, and so continued till Mr. 
Stone removed to Illinois. Just before J. T. Johnson 
became co-editor of the Messenger with him, a union 
was effected between the Christians with Bro. Stone, 
and the reformers, so-called, . . . through the 
labors of A. Campbell and those with him. They oc- 
cupied the same foundation, and could not do other- 
wise than unite together when they came to understand 
each other. And to cement and make permanent this 
union, two distinguished Elders were chosen to ride 
through the Churches and labor together. . . The 
union has been permanent. Of this union Bro. Stone 
says : 'They (the Eeformers) held the name Christian 
as sacredly as we did — they were equally averse from 
making opinions the test of fellowship — and equallv 
solicitous for the salvation of souls. This union, irre- 
spective of reproach, I view as the noblest act of my 
life.' "—Biog. B. W. Stone, pp. 29, 30. This was 
several years after A. Campbell had fled from the Red 
Stone Association, to save himself from exclusion, and 
about the time the Dover Association excluded the 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH. 



67 



Campbellites from its fellowship. One and the same 
in faith and practice, the marriage of Stonism to 
Campbellism was but natural. 

Mr. Stone, not having the talents and influence of 
Mr. Campbell, and dying, in twelve years after the 
marriage, as a natural consequence, the family, pro- 
ceeding from the union, took the name of Campbellite, 
from Mr. Campbell. Mr. Stone and his career almost 
passed out of history, while Mr. Campbell and his 
career are perpetuated by the family. In our next 
Chapter, we will see what is the proper name for the 
family, which has been produced and perpetuated from 
Campbell. 



68 



ORIGIN OF THE 



CHAPTER V. 

THE NAMES, CAMPBELLITE AND C AMPBELL1SM , THE ONLY 
RIGHT NAMES. 

1. Said "Elder T. P. Haley," in St. Louis, at the 
time pastor of the First Campbellite Church there, 
in a series of lectures on his own Church: "My 
theme is Carapbellism. I make no apology for the 
use of this term, which may possibly be offensive to 
some of my hearers, but I present the following ex- 
planations. It is regarded as altogether proper to de- 
nominate the views, the teachings, or the system of 
theology promulgated and defended by John Calvin, 
of Geneva, as Calvinism. . . . Such was his 
prominence in developing and giving shape to them as 
a body of divinity, that it is eminently proper to style 
them, Calvinism. It is not offensive to call that system 
of theology, which antagonizes Calvinism at each of 
the five points, Arminianism, because James Arminius 
was most prominent in its promulgation and develop- 
ment. Lutheranism and Methodism are terms by 
which we designate the peculiar views respectively of 
Martin Luther and John Wesley, and the large and 
respectable bodies that have adopted their views as 
respectively denominated Lutherans and Methodists. 
The term Campbellism in this lecture is therefore used 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH. 



69 



to indicate the 'views, 3 'the teachings,' or the 'system 
of doctrine' or the body of divinity first promulgated 
and defended in the United States by the Campbells, 
Thomas and Alexander, father and son. . . . No 
name has been more widely known in the country, in 
religious circles, both in Europe and America, than that 
for Campbell, and no religious movement, since that of 
John Wesley, has produced such a profound impres- 
sion upon the public as that which these gentlemen 
inaugurated, and which is commonly known as 
Campbellism.' ' — Globe Democrat of 1877. 

Said the Daily Republican, of St. Louis: "Some 
time since the Republican announced the death of 
Rev. Mr. Challen, designating him as 4 a Oampbellite 
Clero'vnian.' The Christian, the recognized organ of 
the denomination to which he belonged, takes excep- 
tion to the designation, and says : 6 We do not think 
the Republican intended any disrespect, either to the 
deceased or to the cause to which he devoted his Ions; 
and useful life. But it is time that the secular papers 
of this country knew better than to allude in such terms 
to a large and respectable religious body, and then at- 
tempt to justify it on the ground that its readers would 
not have understood what it meant had it used the 
name by which they prefer to be distinguished.' "We 
dislike" — said the Republican, "exceedingly to contra- 
dict the emphatic assertion of a religious newspaper. 
Nevertheless, we must venture to affirm that, the people 
of this country 'do not understand what is meant by 



70 



ORIGIN OF THE 



the 'Disciples' or ' Christian Church' when applied to 
a distinguished religious body, as clearly as they un- 
derstand the terms 'Methodist/ 'Baptist,' etc. This 
is not their fault, but the misfortune of the denomina- 
tion alluded to. We simply state the fact, leaving the 
explanation and comment to those more interested in 
an important matter. We doubt whether in any mixed 
company of ordinary intelligent persons, two out of 
fifty can be found who know that the sect founded by 
Alexander Campbell is called 'Disciples' ; or more than 
five out of the fifty who know that the sect is also 
called the 'Christian Church.' In the same company 
every person will know who and what is meant by 
'Methodists' and 'Baptists.' When 'the people of thi& 
country' have the knowledge which the Christian 
credits them with, 'the secular papers of this country' 
will be glad to use one or the other, or both, of the 
names the Christian prefers. Until popular knowl- 
edge reaches this point, the Republican, in common 
with the rest of 'the secular press,' will have to con- 
form to popular ignorance. Moreover, we fail to see 
the slightest disrespect in the word 'Campbellite.' 
Alexander Campbell was a man of whom any sect may 
be proud, and he has impressed his individuality so 
strongly on the organization which owes its origin to 
him that it is never likely to lose his name. The fol- 
lowers of John Wesley do not scorn the name of 
'Methodists,' though it was at first applied to them in 
bitter reproach. They have made it not only honora- 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH. 



71 



ble, but illustrious ; and if the religious body which the 
Christian represents is sensible, it will profit by their 
example." — Daily Republican of J 877. 

Crosswell : 4 6 The Campbellites are named from 
Alex. Campbell." — Ency. Relig. Knowledge, p. 462 
— quoted. 

6 'Disciples of Christ, (Campbellite Baptist.) This 
body owes its origin to the labors of Messrs. Thomas 
and Alexander Campbell." — Haggenbaclt \s Hist. Doc. 
Vol. 2, p. 449 — quoted. 

"Disciples of Christ, commonly called Campbellites, 
from Alexander Campbell, founder of the sect, who 
seceded from the secession branch of the Presbyterian 
Church, in Western Pensylvania, in 1812." — Gorrie's 
Churches and Sects of the U. S. p. 156 — quoted. 
Hitchcock" s Analysis of the Bible says substantially 
the same. Benedict's History of the Baptists: "I 
have, in all my narratives, when this people are 
referred to, styled them Campbellites or Reformers." 
p. 916. 

"Campbellites. . . . Alexander Campbell is the 
'recognized head,' of this new religious movement. . . . 
Campbellism." — Baptist Succession, p. 439. 

"A religious body. . . . the adherents of Rev. 
Alexander Campbell. . . . called from their founder, 
Campbellites."— The late Wm. R. Williams, D.D., of 
N. Y., Vol. 1, p. 361, of Documentary Hist, of Am. 
Bible Union. 

"Campbellites." — Rev. R. S. Duncan, author 
of History of S. S. 



72 



ORIGIN OF THE 



"Campbellites" — A. C. Dayton, The Immersions of 
Pedobaptists and Campbellites. 

"Campbellites" — Rev, J. R. Graves,LL.D. — Idem. 

"Campbellites." — The /Standard, Chicago. 

"Campbellism," ' ' Campbellites. "—Rev. A. P. Wil- 
liams. — Campbellism Exposed. 

"Campbellites." — Swnmers on Baptism, p. 246. 

"Campbellite."— Rev. W. W. Gardner, Missiles of 
Truth, p. 7. 

"The sect of Christians called Disciples or Camp- 
bellites." — Drs. Elisha Tucker, M, B. Anderson, 
Heman Lincoln, C . W. Houghton, S. S . Cutting, 
W. B. Jacobs, Edward Lathrop, Geo. W. Samson, 
J. M. Lenard, A. D. Gillette, J. C. Stockbridge, S. 
F. Smith, in Jeter on Campbellism, p. 5. 

"The term Campbellism is used in this treatise not 
as a term of reproach, but of distinction. No other 
word denotes the system which it is proposed to ex- 
amine. . . . This system is with great propriety 
termed Campbellism. — Jeter on Campbellism,^. 7, 8. 

Frederick D. Power, pastor of the Campbellite 
Church, at Washington, D. C, at the time of President 
Garfield's death: "Name.— This religious people, 
sometimes called ' Campbellites,' or 'Campbellite Bap- 
tists' " — then he proceeds to try to find names by 
which they "call themselves." — Schaff-Herzog Ency. 
Vol. 1, p. 644. 

Prof. R. Richardson, another leading Campbellite, 
says: "The religious society, whose members prefer 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH, 



73 



to be known by the primitive and unsectarian appella- 
tion of 6 Disciples of Christ/ . . . etc., but who are 
variously designated in different sections as . . . Re- 
formers or Campbellites." — Relig. Denom. pp. 223, 
224. 

Webster: "Campbellite. [From the Rev. Alex. 
Campbell of Virginia.] (Eccl. Hist)." 

"Campbenism,'' Rev. N. L. Rice, D.D., "Camp- 
bellism" — a tract published by the Presb. Board of 
Publication, thus, an approval of the use of the term 
by the whole Presb. Church, of the Northern States. 

The authorities for the use of the name, Campbell- 
ite, are thus made up of the Presidents of Colleges, 
the Professors in Colleges and Theological Semina- 
ries, the Dictionary makers, the Church historians, the 
Encyclopedists, of all denominations, outside of the 
Campbellite. Not only this; but the secular press, 
the people generally, and many of the ablest and most 
candid of the Campbellite denomination, use the names 
Campbellite, Campbellism, as perfectly appropriate 
names. Campbellite is, as the St. Louis Republican 
says, the only name by which all understand as desig- 
nating the Campbellite sect. As an illustration: Two 
men were in Washington, one a Baptist and the other 
a Campbellite. On Sabbath they agreed to attend one 
church in the morning, and the other in the evening. 
With this they set out to find the Campbellite Church. 
The Campbellite began to inquire for its location. 
Meeting one man he asked : 6 'Where is the Christian 



74 



ORIGIN OF THE 



Church?" Entering the building pointed out, they 
discovered that it was an Episcopal Church. After 
going out, the Campbellite decided to ask for it, by 
another name, 6 ' Where is the Disciples' Church?" 
greeted a passer-by. The passer-by stopped, studied 
a few moments, answered: "I do not think there is 
one by that name in the city." Passing on, they met 
another very intelligent looking man, of whom the 
Campellite asked: "Please tell us where the Reform- 
ers' Church is?" In answer, they were directed to a 
distant part of the city, only to find the Dutch Re- 
formed Church. During all this time the Baptist 
kept feeling: if he would let me ask, I could find it. 
Finally, after walking themselves nearly down, the Bap- 
tist says: "There comes a gentleman, let me ask, and 
I think we will find it." "All right," answered the 
Campbellite, who by this time was so nearly tired out as 
to not be offended at the true name of his Church. 
"Please tell us where the Campbellite Church is," 
asked the Baptist of the gentleman. "Right over 
there, only a block," pointing his finger, "You will 
find it." After a long, fruitless walk, they, in two 
minutes, entered the Campbellite Church, to hear the 
Campellite minister arise, and begin to tell them that 
the name of their sect is "The Christian Church T " 
At this, the Baptist gave his Campbellite friend a 
"punch," in the side, which, the reader may be sure, 
he was, by this time, prepared to appreciate. The 
Alabama Baptist, not long ago, well said: 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH. 



75 



' ' The term Campbellite is definite and established. 
If it were ever a term of reproach it has ceased to be 
so now among intelligent Christians. And when a 
person or a people find a name affixed to them by 
which they are universally and unmistakably known, 
however disagreeable it may have been at the start, 
they would do well to submit and gracefully bear it. 
It is often the case that some man becomes the repre- 
sentative of a cluster of doctrines so personified in 
him that they cannot be dissevered from his name. 
Mr. Campbell was such a man, and the so-called 'an- 
cient gospel' he evolved in a cluster of doctrines. His 
people should not be ashamed of his great name ; to 
cast it off is an utter impossibility." 

2. The ridiculous absurdities into which some 
Campbellites thrust themselves, in attempting to repudi- 
ate the names, Campbellite, Campbellism. 

I say some Campbellites, for many of the ablest, 
most candid Campbellites — as I have proved, willingly 
recognize the appropriateness of the names. In March, 
1882, Rev. William McNutt, one of the ablest, best of 
ministers, wrote to the "Banner and Gleaner": 
"This day in the town of Blandinsville, McDonough 
County, 111., the truth forced itself upon a Campbell- 
ite convention, thirty-two ministers present. A grand 
convocation of all their ministers in the 'military tract' 
between the Illinois and the Mississippi rivers, in coun- 
cil assembled. In regular programme of business Eld. 
E. J. Lampton, of Camp Point, 111., read a paper en- 



76 



ORIGIN OF THE 



titled, ''The Name of the People of God." The house 
was crowded. We had a seat near the stand, where 
we could catch every word, with paper and pencil in 
hand. The writer of the paper had seen the trouble, 
and approached the name very cautiously and very 
faintly made it by inference, said : 'We have manu- 
factured the name Christian Church. ' Eyes were 
snapping in every direction. One upon another and 
upon me, and my eyes snapped, too. When the 
reader had sat down, Eld. F. Walden, of Old Bedford, 
opened the discussion by asking the reader : 'If a re- 
porter in Kansas were to ask you what you called your 
name, what would you tell him? Making up Church 
statistics what name would you give him?' Here was 
a dead lock. The whole convention saw it and felt 
it. A modest blush arose on all cheeks as the truth 
pressed itself home to all, that this child had to be 
named. Many names were tried, but all were rejected. 
'Christian Church' was pronounced unscriptural and 
sectarian. There was learning and talent in this con- 
vention. Some two or three colleges were represented 
by their presidents and professors. The Greek Testa- 
ment was brought to bear ; but a name for this child 
could not be found in English or Greek. President F. 
M. Bruner, Abington, said : 'Any name that would 
indicate that the Church was of human origin, would 
be dishonoring.' Elder Pinkerton, of Eureka, said : 
'There are several Churches in this place, Methodists, 
Baptists, and perhaps Presbyterians. What Church 



CAMPBELL ITE CHURCH. 



77 



is this T A finer blush never sat on the face of a six- 
teen year old girl, than played on all faces. While 
this question was pending, some one proposed the 
name of 'The Church/ but Eld. Tricket, one of the 
most scholarly, said : 'That will be arrogant, some 
may take it, I won't.' Eld. C. H. Caton, of McComb, 
said, 'We are not back to primitive character. What 
are we to be called until we get back?' Just as he 
said that he threw his eyes on me and said, 'Let us 
quit discussing the name until we get back to primitive 
character. There sits the Baptist pastor, Elder Mc- 
Nutt. I have seen him in debate with our brethren 
on Church identity. I never want to see it again until 
we agree among ourselves ; and then he is taking 
items now (a general laugh, as I sounded it out, yes, 
I have them.) The adjournment came on, and the 
child is not yet named. Think of it. Here we are in 
the Nineteenth Century, and Christ's Church in its in- 
fancy, laid in the lap of a convention to be named ! ! 
Oh, my brethren, the Lord can beat us in controversy 
with the Campbellites. When he has a controversy 
with men he makes them tell it. Campbellism has 
found itself 'where two ways meet.' The literature of 
the world has established the name for them, Camp- 
bellite. They see the point, and to obscure this hu- 
man head, or founder, they must go back on Camp- 
bell and try to place his name on the background. 
While the spirit of Campbell says, 'Without me ye 
can do nothing,' " 



78 



ORIGIN OF THE 



Many of the Campbellites are as much opposed to 
other names, which some propose for the Campbellite 
Church, as others are to 6 'Campbellite." Not long 
ago, a Mr. Martin wrote in the American Christian 
Review, a leading Campbellite paper, an article of two 
and a half columns, on " The Name of the Church." 
In that he says : 6 6 In the Review, of May 18, in refer- 
ence to a card he had received from Bro. Elmore, says : 
'But this card came from the Christian Church. Who 
can these people be ? f ... I wonder if this is not a 
'Disciple Church' ? Can Bros. Martin or Franklin 
tell ? Since the Old Path Guide and the Review have 
been searching for the Church, maybe they can 
enlighten us as to these people, and their faith and 
object?' Just now there is considerable discussion 
about the name of the Church, and the above reference 
to myself will be taken as the occasion for an article 
on the subject. There is, perhaps, no question about 
which our people are more divided than that of the 
name . " ( My italics . ) 

Yet, some of these Campbellites profess great 
offense at any one who is so simple (?) as to call the 
child by its father's name ! Mr. Martin continues: 
"We believe the name a vital question, and yet we 

fThis reminds one of what Hand says, in his trying to reply to 
D. B. Ray's "Text Book on Campbellism," in reference to its use 
of the name, Campbellism : "Campbellism. What is it? A myth, 
an imaginary entity, an excogitation of the author of the Text 
Book." — Text Book Exposed, by G. R. Hand, p. 5. So some 
other Campbellites, in the same strain, express great wonder as 
to "what is the Campbellite Church/ ' 



C AMPB ELL1TE CHURCH. 



79 



have come to no general conclusion as to what the name 
is." ( My emphasis . ) Verily , if this is the Church of 
Christ, it is in a lamentable condition ! No general 
agreement upon "a vital question." Pray, tell us, if 
they follow the Bible, why at sea with no guide? Mr. 
Martin continues : 6 ' So divided are we upon this ques- 
tion that the census takers cannot ascertain who we 
are, what we believe, or our numbers." (My italics.) 
Why then grow so impatient at what is called the 
6 'misrepresentations" of Campbellism? Again, says 
Mr. Martin: 6 ' In Kentucky and in the South we are 
the Christian Church ; in the West we are the Christian 
Church and the Church of Christ; in Ohio, Pennsyl- 
vania and New York, we are the Disciples, and often 
the Disciple Church ; and in New England we are the 
Disciples and the Church of Christ. Christian Church 
is seldom heard among us in New England, because 
there is another Church more numerous than we are, 
called by that name." — quoted by Am. Bap. Flag. 

The Christian Record ', of Oct., 1868, p. 290, edited 
by J. M. Mathes, a leading Campbellite, says: "But 
Dr. Merrill makes a false issue with us, by represent- 
ing us as contending that the proper scriptural 
designation of the Church is 'Christian Church.' Who 
has contended for this, Dr.? f We know of no well 

f A vast number of my readers have heard this name often 
contended for, by Campbellites ; and many Campbellite church 
houses have this name chiseled over their doors. There can be 
no doubt that Mr. Mathes well knew this, when he thus wrote- 
Mathes himself had done so.— Biog. B, W. Stone, p. 5, 



80 



ORIGIN OF THE 



informed man among us who contends for any such 
thing/' 

Again, in the same paper, of Jan., 1869, p. 44, 
Mathes said: 6 6 There is some little matter in the edi- 
tor's prospectus that we regret to see. . . But we 
call Bro. Moore's attention especially to it. It is the 
following: 'Managing editor, W.'T. Moore, pastor of 
the Walnut Street Christian Church, t Cincinnati.' 
Where in the New Testament does Bro. W. T. Moore 
find the Church of Christ called the Christian Church ? 
Evidently, nowhere. The phrase is unscriptural and 
sectarian." Eld. A. Martin, then of Centralia, Ills., 
said: ' 6 Christian Church is a misnomer." — Record 
and Evangelist, June 1, 1876. (I am indebted to 
Eld. Win. McNutt, for the last three quotations J. 

Said Alex. Campbell: "I am bold to affirm, in the 
face of all criticism, that there is not the least author- 
ity in the word here used ( Clirematizo ) for concluding 
that the name Christian came from God, any more 
than from Antiochus Epiphanes ! This may be too 
strong for some, who contend that the name Christian 
is of divine authority, but let them put me to the 
proof. That it was neither given by dream, oracle, 
angel, or apostle, is, in my judgment, by far the more 
probable opinion. If it had been given by the author- 
ity of the Lord it would not have been delayed for ten 
years after the day of Pentecost, nor reserved for the 

fHere is a statement, showing that, in Cincinnati, they called it 
the "Christian Church." This was near where Mathes lived— 
maybe 100 miles distant. 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH. 



81 



city of Antioch to be the place of its origin. . . . 
Now let it be remembered, that we have no objection 
to the name Christian if w T e only deserve it; nor pre- 
dilection for the name disciple, except for its antiquity 
and modesty; but when it [the name Christian] is 
plead for as of divine authority, and as the only or 
most fitting name which can be adopted, we must lift 
our voice against the imposition and contend for the 
liberty, where the Lord has left us free." — Mill. Harb. 
vol. 2, pp. 394, 395. — quoted in Text Booh on 
C ampbellism , pp . 33, 34. Yet, with all this ridicu- 
lous confusion about the name, Campbellites claim to 
be the only pure church, the only church that takes 
the Bible as its only guide ; and some of them become 
deeply offended because they are not called The 
Christian Church, but are called by the true name — 
Campbellite ! Would it not be well to consent to our 
calling the child by the name of its father, until they 
can agree upon some name to submit to us, by which 
we shall call it? Suppose the church, of the first centu- 
ry, had wasted its time and strength in such childish 
contention, as Campbellites waste theirs, in reproach- 
ing themselves and everybody else, over the name? 
Who would have blamed the world for rejecting its 
claims ? 

3. The secret of some Campbellites professing great 
offense at the name Campbellite, and a desire for so?ne 
name which will make their Church a Scriptural 
Church, 



82 



ORIGIN OF THE 



a. The more shrewd Campbellites, who are not 
more conscientious than were the three Hebrew chil- 
dren, repudiate the name Campbellite, because it is an 
implied acknowledgment that the Campbellite Church 
did not originate on the day of Pentecost, but 1800 
years since that time. The Jesuits are endeavoring 
to exclude the history of Roman Catholic persecutions 
from all new books, written upon history. This done, 
only the few historical students, of future generations, 
will know of those persecutions ; and they will have 
little influence over the masses of mankind. So, the 
shrewd Campbellites, when once they have effaced 
the name of Campbell from their Church, will be bet- 
ter able to make the ignorant believe that their Church 
was originated on the day of Pentecost. Among many 
Campbellites, there seems to be a tacit agreement to 
pervert history, by thus changing the date of the 
origin of the Campbellite Church and the name of its 
founder, from the nineteenth to the first century, and 
from Alexander Campbell to Jesus Christ. To ac- 
complish this, many of their preachers and writers 
drill their members to feign that they are shamefully 
insulted, by calling their Church by its proper name. 
They are drilled to accuse whoever calls their Church, 
etc., by its true name of 4 'nicknaming," etc. In this 
Chapter, I have, certainly, proved that by the name 
Campbellite, no insult is intended, and that the proper 
term is used — the term universally recognized, the 
term sanctioned by Dictionaries, Church historians, 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH. 



83 



theologians, encyclopedists, and by intelligent, honest 
Campbellites themselves. The very reason some 
Campbellites propose to remove the name of Campbell 
from their Church is the very reason all who love truth 
and history, should as earnestly endeavor to keep it 
there, by using the name Campbellite, The use of 
Campbellite involving truth, history, honesty, protec- 
tion of the unwary from deception, demands of every 
one, who loves truth, that nothing prevent him from 
using the term Campbellite. If any one is justly in- 
sulted over the term, it is the one who is asked to not 
use it, since, on the grounds of "charity," "polite- 
ness," etc., he is asked to thereby give his aid to the 
Campbellite conspiracy to remove the name of Camp- 
bell, that the uninformed may be made believe that 
the Campbellite Church originated in the first century, 
and that it was originated by Jesus Christ. Charity, 
politeness — they have nothing to do with the use of 
Campbellite, but history, truth, righteousness only. 
Were its use a question of charity and politeness, to 
use it is demonstrated to be charitable and polite, since 
it is universally used and sanctioned by the very high- 
est authorities. In the interest of history, truth and 
righteousness, every one who holds and loves the truth, 
as a matter of loyalty to conscience, to God, is Scrip- 
turally bound to use Campbellite for the name of 
Alexander Campbell's Church. The Apostles did not 
teach the people that they shonld not use the term 
Nicolaitans, lest it should offend the followers of 



84 



ORIGIN OF THE 



fNicolaus. Methodists do not object to Wesley's 
name, Lutherans to Luther's, Presbyterians to Cal- 
vin's ; and it is very certain that they are much nearer 
the Bible than are the Campbellites. That there should 
be such a scheme to get rid of the facts, relative to A. 
Campbell's founding, etc., of the Campbellite Church, 
is a sad reflection on human nature. 

b. Names substituted, by some Campbellites, for 
Campbellite, in the interests of Carupbellism . 

(1) As we have seen, some Campbellites have sub- 
stituted the name, "Christian," as a designation of 
their Church. The name is used but three times in 
the New Testament— Acts 11 :26 ; 26 :28 ; 1 Pet. 4 :16. 
"The disciples were called Christians first in Antioch ;" 
"With but little pursuasion thou would' st fain make me 
a Christian ;" "If a man suffer as a Christian let him 
not be ashamed." The name was used only for 
Christians as individuals ; and as we have seen, not as 
a name for them as an organization, as the Church. 
See "2," of this Chapter, where Campbellites have 
been driven to concede this. So, even were the Camp- 
bellite Church the Bible Church, we have no such a 
name in the Bible, as "The Christian Church." 

(2) Other Campbellites propose the name "Disciple 
Church." But like "The Christian Church" no such 
name is in the Bible. Both the name "Christian" and 

•fNot named after Deacon Mcolas, but after a man, named 
]S"icol.aus, who was their founder. There is no evidence that the 
Nicolaitans endeavored to cover and pervert truth and history by 
repudiating their name. — Neander's Plant, Tr. Chr. Ch.,p. 360, 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH. 



85 



"disciple" are in the Bible; but they are there ap- 
plied to Christians only individually. Matt. 8 :25 ; 
9:19; 27: 7, 13, et mid al. Christians of all denomi- 
nations use these terms, individually. Campbellites 
using them for Church, they using them for individ- 
uals, is but another evidence that Campbellites are far- 
ther from the Bible than they are. 

(3) Were the words, "disciple," and "Christians," 
church-designating terms, no Bible follower could, 
knowingly and conscientiously, apply them to the 
Campbellite Church. First, because the Campbellite 
Church, being the Church of A. Campbell, is a "dis- 
ciple" Church of Campbell, and not a "disciple" 
Church of Christ. Second, were the term "Christian" 
the designating term of the Church, no Bible follower 
could, knowingly and conscientiously, apply it to the 
Campbellite Church, because it is a Campbellite and 
not a Christian Church. Also, because the term, 
Christian, so applied, would misrepresent the posi- 
tion of the Campbellite Church in regard to the work 
of the Holy Spirit in salvation. In the Bible, the 
anointing with oil, symbolized the Holy Spirit in con- 
version and sanctification. As Fairbairn remarks : 

"Old Testament Scripture itself provides us with 
abundant materials for explaining the import of this 
action. It expressly connects it with the communica- 
tion of the Spirit of God ; as in the history of Saul's 
consecration to the kingly office, to whom it was said 
by Samuel, after having poured the vial of oil upon 



86 



ORIGIN OF THE 



his head, 'And the Spirit of the Lord shall come upon 
thee.' — 1 Sam. 10:6. And still more explicitly in 
the case of David is the sign coupled with the thing 
signified: 'Then Samuel took the horn of oil, 
and anointed him in the midst of his brethren : 
and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David 
from that day forward. But the Spirit of the 
Lord departed from Saul.' — 2 Chron. 13:14, The 
gift symbolized by the anointing, having been 
conferred upon the one, it was necessarily withdrawn 
from the other. More emphatically, however, than 
even here, is the connection between the inward rite, 
and the inward gift, marked in the prophecy of Isaiah, 
61 : 1 : 'The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, 
because he hath anointed me to preach good tidings,' 
etc. This passage may be fitly regarded as the con- 
necting link between the Old and the New Testament 
usage in the matter. It designated the Savior as the 
Christ, or Anointed One, and because anointed, filled 
without measure by the Spirit, that in the plenitude 
of spiritual grace and blessing He might proceed to 
the accomplishment of our redemption. . . . He was 
hence said by Peter to have been 'anointed with the 
Holy Ghost and with power.' Acts 10 : 38. And 
because believers are spiritually united to Christ, and 
what He has without measure, also in a measure 
theirs, they too are said to be 'anointed by God, 'or to 
have an unction (xptcrjua) of the Holy One, which 
teacheth them all things' "—2 Cor. 1 : 21 ; 1 John 2 : 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH. 



87 



20. — Typology, vol. 2. p 214. Kristos, (^occfto^). 
rendered Christ is from Jcrio, (%puo) to anoint. The 
word Christ, therefore, is anglicised, like baptize. 
Were it translated, we would have Anointed instead of 
Christ. Kristianos, (Xpcarcavoq) rendered Christian, 
is from kristos, (^o^rroc) Anointed, rendered Christ. 
The word Christian is anglicised, and rendered, w T ould 
be, anointed, or partaking of the anointed— of the 
Spirit, through the Anointed. Distinguished marks 
of the Campbellite Church, being the repudiation of 
the Bible doctrines of depravity, of regeneration, of 
the miraculous power and personal work of the Spirit, 
in regeneration, and the substitution of errors w 7 ith 
baptismal regeneration, it is highly improper and a sin 
to call it by the name Christian, which name can 
indicate only the belief of the miraculous power and 
personal presence of the Spirit, as distinguishing 
Bible Christians. That I do not misrepresent the 
Campbellite Church upon these points, the reader 
will see by turning to the Chapters in this book which 
treat upon them, Chapters II. and XVI. As well 
demand that sin be called righteousness; darkness, 
light; Satan, God; as to demand that the 
Campbellite Church be called the Christian Church, 
or that it be recognized as Christianity. Who believes 
that loyal Christians would have called the Nicolai- 
tans by any term, which would commit them to its 
recognition as an Apostolic Church? Nay, verily: 
before they would have done so, they would have 



88 



ORIGIN OF THE 



sealed the truth by their death. So, by the grace of 
God, will I do before I will call the Campbellite. 
Church by any term which will commit me to its rec- 
ognition as the Scriptural Church. I allow the Camp- 
bellites to call it what they may please to call it ; and 
ask for others, the same privilege. Never will I be so 
illiberal as to be offended at any one for refusing to 
call anything which I believe is Scriptural, by a name 
which would commit him, against his conscience, to the 
same belief. 

(4) But Campbellite controversialists, set on 
forcing us to recognize, by some name, Campbellism as 
Scriptural, endeavor to arouse sympathy and preju- 
dice by saying : "You call Methodists, all others, by 
the names they desire to be called, but cruelly and 
illiberally refuse us the same charity and politeness." 
To this I reply : They are not so demanding and illib- 
eral as to select a name for themselves which monopo- 
lizes — as The Christian Church, etc. — the New Testa- 
ment claim, and forces me, by its use, to thereby recog- 
nize them as Scriptural. Neither do they deny what 
all know are their names. 

4. Finally: The Christian world has, probably , 
never witnessed so much absurdity as some Campbel- 
lites exhibit over the name for their Church. 

First. Some of them deny their true name. Sec- 
ond. They have spent many sermons, proving ( ?) 
themselves the true Church, because they had the 
name, "The Christian Church." But now they sur- 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH* 



80 



render it as the name. Third. They agree among 
themselves upon no name by which their church shall 
be called. Fourth. In writing the name upon 
which a few of them agree, as the name for their 
Church, they have reduced the quarrel among them- 
selves over the name to the fine point, as to whether 
disciple shall be written with a big D, or with a little 
d. One of the Campbellite papers — the " Texas 
Christian ," — says: "We beg leave to enter our pro- 
test against 'Disciples' with a big D." — quoted from 
American Baptist Flag. Another Campbellite paper, 
" The Christian Messenger ," enters the same protest, 
and adds, any printer who should be guilty of doing 
so — shall I say guilty of such blasphemy and of the 
unpardonable sin? — would be put out of its office. 
The editorial reads : 

66 'I do not see any good taste in writing the name 
Disciples with a small d.' — J. C. Creel, in Old Path 
Guide. Then } r ou do not see any good taste in the 
New Testament. To write it with a capital D makes 
us a sect. The Mormons write saints with a capital 
S., and make themselves a sect. You ought to serve 
an apprenticeship in a printing office and learn the 
force of capital letters. In the Messenger office it is 
equivalent to a discharge for a printer to spell disci- 
ples with a capital D. It is a capital offense.' ' — 
Christian Messenger* Dec. 19, 1883. 

Verily, there must be a wonderful amount of char- 
ity in Campbellism, to discharge a poor printer, de- 



90 



ORIGIN OF THE 



prive him of the means of making bread, clothing, 
shelter for his wife and little ones, because, forsooth, 
he happens to spell one of the many names of the 
Campbellite Church with a capital D ! ! No wonder the 
world and Baptists are excoriated so severely because 
they do not get the Campbellite shibboleth correct, 
when Campbellites, themselves, cannot do so. And it 
"has come to this," that not departure from the Bible, 
but "a Capital D" — a capital letter "makes" "a 
sect" ! Mr. Burnett — the editor — had better go as a 
missionary to the "Mormons" and reduce them from 
a sect to the Church of Christ, by teaching them to 
write the name of their church with a little "s, "instead 
of a big "S." In an editorial, next to the one just 
quoted — in the same paper — we read : "Three of our 
papers — the Standard, Evangelist, and Apostolic 
Times . . . spell disciples with a capital D. The 
Old Path Guide is on the fence. . . . Half the 
Christian press have not bowed the knee to Baal." 
This leaves the "tweedledees" and "tweedledums" of 
the Pharisees, of our Savior's time, in the shade. 
Fifth. During all this grave and critieal time, 
among Campbellites, others are expected to be so in- 
fallible and orthodox upon the name for their Church, 
that woe unto him who should misname, misspell or 
mispronounce their shibboleth. To say that Campbell- 
ites fulminate their reproach and abuse without meas- 
ure, upon millions of good men and women, because 
they do not get their shibboleth "right," when they, 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH. 



91 



themselves, are unable to agree upon it, is but weakly 
stating the case.f 

"Oh wad some power the giftie gie us, 
To see oursels as others see us, 
It wad frae monie a blunder free us, 
And foolish notion." 

6 'This is the end of the matter ; all hath been heard : 
fear God and keep his commandments ; for this is the 
whole duty of man :" — and it is very certain you will 
then never call a Campbellite Church a Christian 
Church, or any other name which will be its recogni- 
tion as the Church of Jesus Christ. 



t The reader who is not familiar with Campbellism, may think 
that so much space, as I have given to their name, is as need- 
lessly given as their "name, 1 ' confusion abounds. But this is jus- 
tified by their making the "name" one of their fundamentals,by 
their misleading many by it, and by the intolerance towards 
those who refuse to bow the knee to the Baal of Campbellism, by 
not calling it other than the Campbellite Church. 



92 



ORIGIN OF THE 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE CAMPBELLITE CHURCH, IN ROUND NUMBERS, IS 
1800 YEARS TOO YOUNG TO BE REGARDED AS 
THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 

From Chapters 1 and 2, we have seen that there 
can be no question that the Canipbellite Church origi- 
nated in the 19th century. Some date the first ex- 
istence of the Campbellite Church in the Brush Run 
Church, the organization of which is dated by Prof. 
Richardson, Sept. 7, 1810. Others place the date at 
about 1803, when B. W. Stone organized the Stonites 
into a sect. Others place the organization of the first 
Campbellite Church in 1827, when, in the language 
of the Herzog-Schaff Ency., 4 'the Campbellites were 
formally excluded" — from the Baptist denomination. 
— Vol. 2, p. 377. Here Ray places the date. — 
Text Book on Camp. , 109. 

In the sense of separation from the Baptists, 1827 
is the date. In the sense of being the first organized 
Campbellite Church, about 1803 is the date, when B. 
W. Stone organized it. Viewed as originating with 
the Campbells, when the Brush Run Church was or- 
ganized, 1810 is the date. So, from each writer's 
standpoint, he is correct. But, as I have clearly 
proved that the first Campbellite Church, of the Stone 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH. 



93 



side, originated in 1803, and from the Campbellite 
side, in 1810, and that these Churches never professed 
to be or ceased to be other than Campbellite churches, 
—except so far as was necessary, for the time being, 
to creep into the Red Stone Association — it is clear, 
that we must date the first Campbellite Churches in 
1803 and 1810. So far as this point is concerned, it 
matters not which of these dates we adopt ; for, from 
chapters 1 and 4, of this book, it is certain that there 
never was a Campbellite Church before the present 
century. As Prof. R. Richardson, a leading Camp- 
bellite writer says, of the origin of the Campbellite 
Church, it "had its origin in an effort made a few 
years since.'' — Relig. Denom., jj. 224. Inasmuch as 
it is so universally agreed, that the Christian Church 
was founded in the first century, I will not here take 
space to prove it.f Should any one desire proof he 
will find it in Chap. 10, of this book, on the "setting 
up of the kingdom," etc. The Church of Christ hav- 
ing its origin in the first century of the Christian era, 
we might as well claim that the United States is the 
Roman Republic, that the world was created, baptism 
was instituted, that Jesus baptized, that the apostles 

t Only some Pedo-rantists deny this. I use the 
name Pedo-rantists — -from (-acd'to^) paidion child and 
(pa&Tconjc:) rantistees a sprinkler — child sprinkler — as 
there is but little Vedo-bcf.pt ism — fvom(7rac8cov) paidion 
child and (/fajrrttjrjyc) bcqjtistees, immerser — in Ameri- 
ca. 



94 



ORIGIN OF THE 



were commissioned, that the Mosaic law — that the 
whole of Christianity was instituted in the present cen- 
tury, as to claim that the Campbellite Church which 
originated in the present century, is the Church which 
Christ originated in the first century. John Anderson 
of Kentucky, died in 1823, leaving a large estate. His 
only heir, his son, Thomas, was born in 1802 and was 
supposed to be dead, as he had not been heard from 
for several years. Two years after John Anderson's 
death, a man who had but few of the family resem- 
blances appeared as the heir. No one recognized 
him. He presented his claim in Court. There 
it was proved that the claimant was born in 1805 — 
three years too young to be the heir of John An- 
derson. The claimant is imprisoned as a base im- 
poster. Yet, here comes the Campbellite Church, 
1800 years — instead of only three — too young to be 
the heir of the New Testament — 1800 years too young 
to have a shadow of claim to be the Church of Christ, 
and, brazenly, claims that it is the Church ! Camp- 
bellites, themselves being witnesses, the Campbellite 
Church cannot be the Church. Benjamin Franklin, 
a late Campbellite writer, editor and debater, says : "A 
community not founded at the right time is not the 
Kingdom of Christ.'' — Living Pulpit, p. 348, quoted 
by D. B. Ray. He further says : 

' ' If Popery w r as born too late, or is too young to be 
the true church ; what shall be said of those commu- 
nities born in the last three centuries ? They are all 



CAMPBELLITE CHUKCH. 



95 



too young, by largely more than a thousand years. 
No church that came into existence since the death of 
the Apostles can be the church of the living God." — - 
Idem, p. 350, — quoted in Hay-Lucas Debate, and 
Am. Baptist Flag. 

J. M. Mathes, another leading Campbellite editor, 
writer and debater, says, of the Methodist Church : 
"Because the Methodist Church, as an organism is 
not old enough to be the Church of God." — Letters to 
Bishop Morris } p. 140. In addition to chapters 1 and 
4, the following Campbellite testimony, on the origin 
of the Campbellite Church: "Within the last forty- 
five years a community has grown from zero to half a 
million. — "Living Pulpit, p. 47. The editor of the 
"Living Pulpit," Mr. Moore, says: 

"This was the beginning of the great reformatory 
movement, known as the Kef or mat ion of the Nineteenth 

Century Under the influence of these 

movements, which had no well defined organization, a 
latent force was excited, which has taken the body and 
form of what is now known as the Christian Church, 
or Disciples of Christ." — Idem, p. 41 ,— quoted from 
pp. 41, 42, of Ray ^Lucas Debate. 

Frederick D. Power, pastor of the Campbellite 
Church in Washington, at the time of President Gar- 
field's death, says, of the Campbellite Church : "As 
a distinct body of believers, they date from the early 
part of the present century." — Schaff-Herzog Ency., 
p. 644. Truly, then, says Fleetwood's Life of Christ, 



96 



ORIGIN OF THE 



in the appendix, of the Campbellite Church: "This 
denomination. . . was founded by the Rev. Alexander 
Campbell about the year 1827." — Ray-Lucas Debate, 
p. 81. Shall the claimant to "John Anderson's" es- 
tate be imprisoned as an imposter for being only three 
years younger than the true heir, and the Campbellite 
Church, which is 1,800 years younger than the Church 
of Christ, be recognized as the heir to Christ's estate? 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH. 



97 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE CAMPBELLITE CHURCH WAS ORIGINATED IN THE 
WRONG GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION FOR IT TO 
CLAIM THAT IT IS THE CHURCH OF 
CHRIST. 

Jesus Christ was born, raised, lived, and was cruci- 
fied in Palestine. In Judea, He taught, there ordained 
the Church ordinances, organized His Church, commis- 
sioned His Apostles; and, from Judea, He ascended 
into heaven. In Judea, was the Christianity cradle, 
there was laid the foundation of human hope. There 
was originated all that is dear to the lost world. Of 
this historians write, philosophers philosophize, poets 
sing, and children lisp their wee bit joys. That the 
Campbellite Church was founded in the United States 
of America has been proved, beyond a doubt. This, 
no honest, informed man, will deny. See Chapters 1 
and 2 of this book. As well claim that the law which 
was given on Sinai was given on Pike's Peak; that 
Jerusalem was built in Africa ; that Christ was born in 
Bethany, Virginia ; that Corinth, of Mississippi, is 
Corinth, of Asia, as to claim that the Campbellite 
Church — which was originated in the United States of 
America — is the Church which was originated in Judea, 



98 



ORIGIN OF THE 



Campbellites, themselves, have written the handwrit- 
ing on the wall against their Church. Says Benjamin 
Franklin : "A community not founded and established 
in the right place, is not the Church of Christ." Living 
Pulpit, p. 343, quoted in Hay-Lucas Debate, p. 41. 
Take the illustration ii} Chapter 6 of this book. Sup- 
pose the imposter claimant, to John Anderson's estate, 
had, in court, proved that he was born the very year, 
the very day, the very hour and the very minute in 
which Thomas Anderson, the true heir,was born ; and, 
that it had, in court, been proved that he had been 
born in Virginia, while Thomas Anderson had been 
born in Kentucky ? Would any lawyer have needed to 
argue that he was an imposter? How much less, then, 
should argument be unnecessary to prove the Camp- 
bellite Church an ecclesiastical imposter, when it was 
bora at neither the time nor the place where the 
Church of Christ had its birth ? 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH. 



99 



CHAPTER VIII. 

CHRISTIANITY, HAVING DONE 1800 YEARS WITHOUT THE 
CAMPBELLITE CHURCH, IS DEMONSTRATIVE PROOF 
OF ITS NEEDLESSNESS ; AND, THEREFORE, THAT 
IT IS NOT THE CHURCH OF CHRIST, BUT IS A 
FIFTH WHEEL TO ZION. 

Before the birth of the Campbellite Church, millions 
upon millions had ' 'gone up the shining way," sing- 
ing : 

" 'Tis finished — all is finished, 

Our fight with death and sin ; 
Fling open wide the golden gates 

And let the victors in.'" 

Countless hosts of barbarians had been Christianized 
and civilized ; great Christian institutions, by the hun- 
dreds, had been planted over the world ; the shackles 
had been broken and human liberty was standing upon 
the ramparts of despotism, waving its banner; the 
world had passed out of the deadness and the dark- 
ness of the past, into the life and the progress of the 
present ; America, the wonder of the world and the 
favorite of heaven ; — all of this before the Campbell- 
ite Church was en embryd. Not only this, but before 
the rise of Campbellism the Church and alL Christians 
had received new life; 4 'modern" missions had enter- 
ed upon their mighty works and achievements ; the 



100 



ORIGIN OF THE 



revival periods of 1600—1688, of 1730—1750, had 
left the Church glowing and sparkling with the divine 
heat, and the revival period of 1790—1842, had 
rushed in, to add to the blessings of the past three 
periods. — See Hand-Booh of Revivals, by Henry Fish 
D. D., pp. 37 — 65. We would naturally think, that 
if the Lord had ever had any use for Campbellism, He 
would have raised up some Stone and Campbell to 
originate it,in the Dark Ages ; but, it springs into life, 
at the very time when there was the least call for it ! 
Who can deny, that if the Christian world did not need 
the Campbellite Church, at any time, during the first 
1800 years, it does not need it now, and never can need 
it? Certainly, Jesus Christ did not so highly regard 
the Campbellite Church, as did Mr. Stone, Mr. Camp- 
bell, and as do Campbellites of to-day, or He would 
not have omitted to originate it. The historical dem- 
onstration of the needlessness of the Campbellite 
Church, is the demonstration of the baseless nature of 
its every claim to be the Church of Jesus Christ. 

Not only does history demonstrate that the Camp- 
bellite Church is not the Church, but, it demonstrates 
that it is an encumbrance to the work of the Church. 
In the New Testament, is no intimation that Jesus 
Christ organized more than one Church, or one order 
of Churches. Every new sect, claiming to be a 
Church, or a part of a Church, is but a contravention 
to the divine will, one more addition to the multiplicity 
of sects, and the entanglements, the strifes, the finan- 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH. 



101 



cial burdens, the moral hindrances and the intensity of 
sectarian confusion, (a) Mr. Stone's and Mr. Camp- 
bell's claim, that they aimed to unite the sects, is as 
worthless as chaff, since many other sect makers be- 
gan their fearful work with the same claimf. (6) The 
uniting of unscriptural sects, never can make the Scrip- 
tural Church, any more than uniting any amount of 
errors, can make one right; — see chapter 33, of this 
book, on the Campbellite opposition to creeds, scheme 
of Christian union, etc. (c) The Scriptures author- 
ize no man to originate another sect, much less to do 
so by attempting to unite sects, (d) And, it is certain 
that the Stone and Campbell movement has added 
another sect to the babel of sectarianism. Says A. 
Campbell: "The Dover Association has assumed the 
awful responsibility of producing a faction; conse- 
quently a sect "—Mill. Harb., vol. 4, p. 13, — quoted 
in Jeter on Camphellism, p. 101. Webster: "A 
sect ... a body of persons who have separated from 
others ... a school or denomination ; especially a 
religious denomination." — Die. "Faction: "A par- 
ty of any kind, acting unscrupulously for their 
own private ends, and for the destruction of the com- 
mon good; tumult, discord, dissension, . . . synony- 
mous with party, clique," etc. — Die. 

Says Crabbe, probably the highest authority on 

f Says A. Campbell : u The modern sects have been gotten up 
with the desire of getting back to Christianity." — Christian Sys- 
tem, p. 102. 



102 



ORIGIN OF THE 



English synonyms: "A faction is raised by busy 
and turbulent spirits for their own purposes. Rome 
was torn by the intestine factions of Caesar and Pom- 
pey . . . Faction is the demon of discord, armed with 
the power to do endless mischief, and intent alone on 
destroying whatever opposes its progress. Woe to that 
State into which it has found an entrance ; 'It is the 
restless ambition of a few artful men that thus breaks 
a people into factions.' " — Eng. Syn. p. 209. 
Shakespeare: 4 6 To commit outrages and cherish fac- 
tions." Mr. Campbell's own words acknowledge that 
the Campbellite Church is "a faction; consequently 
a sect." (My italics. ) 

Mr. Campbell's creeping into the Eed Stone Asso- 
ciation, by a written 6 ' declaration" of faith, which 
caused the simple minded souls, composing it, to be- 
lieve him of scriptural faith ; surreptitiously fleeing 
from there, after creating a party, to the Mahoning 
Association; the dissensions, divisions, the heart- 
burnings among friends; and thereby, a new denomina- 
tion, all prove he wrote well, when he called the 
Campbellites a 4 'faction, consequently a sect." As to 
his charging the sin of originating all this upon the 
Baptists, because they would not retain his heretical 
troublers in their fellowship, let the reader decide at 
whose door that sin lies. Even deciding it was a sin 
to "cut off" troublers, as Paul desired done, — see 
Gal. 5 :12 — that does not make Mr. Campbell's words 
any the less true, when he calls the Campbellites a 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH. 



103 



"faction, consequently a sect." So, universally, the 
Campbellites are known as a "faction," a sect, etc. — 
one more voice added to the babel of sectarianism. 
Thus the Campbellite Church is in opposition to the 
Church which Christ organized, is another faction, sect 
and hindrance to Christianity. It is worse than a fifth 
wheel to Zion. 



104 



ORIGIN OP THE 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE CAMPBELLITE CHURCH FOUNDED UPON THE INFIDEL 
ASSUMPTION, UPON WHICH NEAR ALL THE SECTS 
ARE FOUNDED—VIZ., THE HARLOTRY OF 
THE BLESSED BRIDE OR CHURCH 
OF CHRIST. 

1. Inasmuch as so many deny that the Bible teaches 
that the Church of Christ should never apostatize, I 
must here introduce an extensive argument, to prepare 
the way for the examination of Campbellism,upon the 
subject of this Chapter. The M. E. Discipline defines 
the Church : "The visible Church of Christ is a con- 
gregation of faithful men in which the pure word of 
God is preached, and the sacraments duly administered 
according to Christ's ordinance in all things that are 
of necessity requisite to the same." — Art. 13. (My 
italics.) Substituting ordinances for "sacraments" 
and adding Scriptural Church government, this defini- 
tion is good. 

Dr. Hiscox, Baptist : "A Christian Church is a con- 
gregation of baptized believers in Christ, worshipping 
together, associated in the faith and fellowship of the 
gospel ; practicing its precepts ; observing its ordi- 
nances ; recognizing and receiving Christ as their Su- 
preme lawgiver and ruler ; and taking His Word as 



CAMPBELL1TE CHUKCH. 



105 



their sufficient and exclusive rule of faith and practice 
in all matters of religion." — Bap. Oh. Directory, p. 
13. This expresses what the Methodist Discipline 
seems to mean, but with much more clearness With 
equal clearness J. M. Pendleton, D. D., — Oh. Man., 
p. 7. E. Adkins, D. D.,—The Oh, its Polity and 
Fellowship, p. 18. H. Harvey, D. D., — The Ch. 9 
p. 26, and "2." Henry M. Dexter, D. D., — Con- 
gregationalism, p. 1. W. W. Gardner, D. D., — Mis- 
siles of Truth, pp. 189, 190. William Crowell— 
Oh. Members' Man., p. 35, express what a Church is. 

Art. 13, of the New Hampshire Confession says : 
"We believe that a visible Church of Christ is a con- 
gregation of baptized believers, associated by cove- 
nant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel ; observ- 
ing the ordinances of Christ ; governed by his laws ; 
and exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested 
in them by His Word," etc. 

EhMesia (exxfyala) occurs 114 times in the New 
Testament. In all but three it is rendered Church. In 
the 111 instances it refers to the Christian institution ; 
once typically, (Acts 7:38) the remaining 110 occur- 
rences antitypically. In 99 instances, by counting, I 
find it denotes local organizations; in 12, by synec- 
doche, it means all the organizations. It is used by 
synecdoche in only Matt. 16:18; Eph. 9:22; 3:10, 
21; 5:23, 24, 25, 27, 29, 32; Heb. 12:23, and, pos- 
sibly, one or two other occurrences. 

Says E. J. Fish, D. D. : "All investigation concurs 



106 



ORIGIN OF THE 



with 'unequivocal uses of the term in pronouncing the 
actual Church to be a local society and never anything 
but a local society." — Ecclesiology , p. 114. "The 
real Church of Christ is a local body, of a definite, 
doctrinal constitution such as is indispensable to the 
unity of the Spirit." — Idem, p. 116. Alluding to its 
application to all professors, of all creeds, scattered 
everywhere, as an "invisible," "universal Church," 
Dr. Fish well says : 

"Not a single case can be adduced where the loose 
and extended use of the collective can be adopted 
without a forced and unnatural interpretation. The 
New Testament is utterly innocent of the inward con- 
flict of those theories which adopt both the invisible, 
or universal, as it is now more commonly called, and 
the local ideas." — Idem, p. 102. 

H. M. Dexter, a Congregationalist, was forced to 
say: "The weight of New Testament authority, then, 
seems clearly to decide that the ordinary and natural 
meaning of exxtyeta (ekklesia, rendered Church) is 
that of a local body of believers." — Congregational- 
ism, p. 33. 

Says Kalph Wardlaw, D. D., a Congregationalist : 
"Unauthorized uses of the word Church. Under this 
head, I have first to notice the designations, of which 
the use is so common, but so vague, — of the Church 
visible and the Church mystical, or invisible. Were 
these designations to be found in the New Testament, 
we should feel ourselves under obligation to examine 



CAMPBELL ITE CHURCH. 



107 



and ascertain the sense in which the inspired writers 
use them. This, however, not being the case, we are 
under no such obligation." — Congregational Indepen- 
dency, p. 54. 

A. Campbell: ' 'The communities collected and set 
in Qrder by the apostles were called the congregation 
of Christ, and all these taken together are sometimes 
called the kingdom of God. 9 ' — Christian System, p. 
172. 

Moses E. Lard, of the difference between the king- 
dom and the Church : "My brethren make none." — 
What Baptism is For, Number 3, p. 5. On the same 
page : "God has not one thing on this earth called his 
kingdom and another called his Church." That 
Church refers to a local body, any one can see by such 
as Matt. 18:17; Acts, 8:1; 9:31; 11:32, 26; 13:1; 
14:23,27; 15:3,4,22,41; 16:5; 18:22; Eom. 16: 
1,5; 1 Cor. 1:2; 4:17; 7:17; 11 :16;2 Cor. 8:1,18, 
19,23,24; 11:8,28; 12:13; Gal. 1:2, 22; Eev. 1: 
4; 2:1, 7, 8, 11, 12, 17, 18, 23, 29; 3:1, 6, 7, 13,14, 
22; 22 :16. A careful comparison of these references 
w T ill prove that the Church is a local body, administer- 
ing discipline, etc., known as Church, in any locality 
and Churches when several are spoken of. Kingdom, 
in the New Testament, means the aggregate of the 
Churches, just as any kingdom means the aggregate 
off its provinces — or countries of which it is com- 

f Except that there is no general organization of the Churches 
hut each is, in organization, independent of every other Church, 
save as Christ is King over them all. 



108 



ORIGIN OF THE 



posed. A kingdom includes the unorganized part of 
its geographical territory. In the New Testament, 
likewise, it may include regenerate persons who have 
been misled so as to have never united with any of the 
Churches or organized parts of the kingdom. Such 
an instance is Rev. 18 :4, where they are exhorted to 
come out from the Romish Church. But, in no in- 
stance, either politically or ecclesiastically, can the 
application of the term to the unorganized localities 
or parts exclude the organized as necessary to the 
kingdom. 

W. M. F. Warren, D. D., President of Boston Uni- 
versity, Methodist: 4 6 The Christian Church is the 
kingdom of God, viewed in its objective or institu- 
tional form." — Essay before the J¥. Y. Prophetic 
Conference, in 1883. "In an earlier period this 
kingdom was identified with the Church. . . . The 
Protestants regarded it ... as the Christian institu- 
tion of salvation." — Schaff-Herzog Ency., vol. 2, p. 
1246. 

Barnes: The kingdom means k 6 the state of things 
which the Messiah was to set up — his spiritual reign 
began in the Church on earth, and completed in heav- 
en." — On Matt. 3:2. Neander, while stating that the 
kingdom is used in other sense, — which, by the way, 
can easily be included in the one he mentions — says : 
"The idea of the Church of Christ is closely connected 
in the views of Paul w T ith that of the kingdom of 
God. " — Planting and Training of the Christian 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH. 



109 



Church, p. 455. "At the time of which we are 
speaking, the Church comprised the whole visible form 
of the kingdom of God." — Idem, p. 458. 

Andrew Fuller regards the kingdom and the Church 
indissoluble when he says: "If the nature of Christ's 
kingdom w^ere placed in those things in which the 
apostles placed it, the government and discipline of 
the Church would be considered as means not as ends." 
— Fuller s Works, vol. 2, p. 639. 

G. W. Clarke: "This kingdom, reign, or administra- 
tion of the Messiah is spiritual in its nature (John 
18:36; Rom. 14:17) and is exercised over and has 
its seat in the hearts of believers. — Luke 17:21. It 
exists on earth (Matt. 13: 18, 19, 41, 47) extends to 
another state of existence (Matt. 13 : 43; 26: 29; 
Phil. 2 : 10, 11) and will be fully consummated in a 
state of glory. (1 Cor. 15 :24; Matt. 8 :11 ; 2 Pet, 1 : 
11. ) It thus embraces the whole mediatorial reign or 
government of Christ on earth and in heaven, and in- 
cludes in its subjects all the redeemed, or, as Paul ex- 
presses it, (Eph. 3:15) ' the whole family in heaven 
and earth.' Kingdom of heaven and Church are not 
identical, though inseparately and closely connected. 
The Churches of Christ are the external manifestations 
of this kingdom in the world." Com. on Matt. 
3:2. 

In an excellent article in Smith's Bib. Die, vol. 
2, pp. 1541-1543, A. Hovey, D. D., Pres. Newton 
Theol. Sem. says: ' ' This kingdom, though in its 



110 



ORIGIN OF THE 



nature spiritual, was to have, while on earth, the 
visible form in Christian Churches, and the simple 
rites belonging to Church life were to be observed by 
every loyal subject. Matt. 28:18; John 3:5 ; Acts 
2:38; Luke 21:17; 1 Cor. 11:24. It cannot, how- 
ever, be said that the New Testament makes the spir-. 
itual kingdom of Christ exactly co-extensive with the 
visible Church. There are many in the latter who do 
not belong to the former, (1 John 2:9,) and some, 
doubtless, in the former, who do not take their place 
in the latter/' (My italics.) 

Tholuck : "A kingdom of God — that is an organic 
commonwealth." " The New Testament kingdom of 
God, is both from within and from without, in the 
individual as in the whole community." < 8 The idea 
of the kingdom of God ... is an organized com- 
munity, which has its principle of .life in the will of 
the personal God." Ser. on the Mount, pp. 71, 74. 
(My italics.) 

This being the case, every promise of preservation 
and perpetuity , made to the kingdom, is a promise to 
the Churches, of which it is composed. If the king- 
dom and Church mean only the reign of grace in the 
heart, as grace had reigned in the heart at least, from 
the time of Abel, Dan. 2 :44, and Matt. 16 :18, speak- 
ing of the kingdom and the Church as not built before 
the New Testament age, would have never been spoken. 
I will proceed to prove that the Bible promises that 
the Church should never apostatize. 



C AMPB ELLITE CHURCH. 



Ill 



I. " I will make an everlasting covenant ivith them, 
that I will not turn away from them to do them good, 
but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall 
not depart from me." — Jer. 32:40. 1. That this 
refers to the New Testament none will deny. 2. That 
the Church and the 66 covenant " are indissoluble, will 
not be denied. 3. That this covenant and its subjects 
are in contrast with the old covenant and its subjects, 
is equally evident. From this it follows, that, in- 
asmuch as its people of the old covenant apostatized, 
and it and they were repudiated of God, the new cove- 
nant and the people are everlastingly united to Him. 
This is positively affirmed : (a) an " everlasting cove- 
nant ;"(!)) 4 'fear in their hearts ;"( c ) " that they shall 
not depart from me" — no departing from God, as 
under the old covenant, no apostate Israel, hence 
Church succession. The only possible way to deny 
that here is a positive promise of Church succession is 
to affirm that God departs from His people, who do 
not depart from Him, to affirm that He- is unfaithful. 

n. " In the days of these Icings shall the God of 
heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be de- 
stroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other 
people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all 
these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever." — Dan. 
2 :44. I. Here God affirms He will set up a kingdom 
— but one kingdom. 2. This kingdom includes the 
Church or Churches, as the United States govern- 
ment includes the State or States. 3. That this king- 



112 



ORIGIN OF THE 



dom and this Church or Churches are indivisible, is 
certain. 4. He affirms this kingdom — His Church — 
shall not be left to other people ; i. e., under or by the 
law of the old covenant, the kingdom, because of 
apostasy, was given to the Gentiles — " other people," 
but under the law of the new covenant there shall be no 
apostasy of the Church, so as to cause it to be given to 
' ' other people " — to Wesley, Calvin, &c, and their 
followers. No room here for men to set up Churches 
of their own on the ground of apostasy. 5. This 
kingdom " shall never be destroyed." 6. This king- 
dom " shall stand forever." 7. This kingdom shall 
be aggressive — " shall break in pieces and consume 
all ' other kingdoms ' " 8, The days of these kings 
refer to the days of the Caesars. The only possible way 
of avoiding this promise of Church succession is to deny 
that this kingdom and Church are indissoluble. That 
this denial is vain, is evident, from the facts, that, in 
the New Testament the two are never separate, and the 
promises therein to the one are equally to the other. 
So writers of all denominations hold them one. Here, 
then, in the Old Testament are the most unequivocal 
promises of Church succession. 

III. 66 Upon this rock ivill I build my Church, and 
the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." — Matt. 
16 :18. 1. This is Church, but one kind of Church — 
a kingdom — not ' 'branches." 2. Christ built His 
Church. Wesley, Calvin, Campbell, &c, built theirs. 
He built it on a sure foundation. Isa. 28 :16 ; Ps, 118 : 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH. 



113 



22 ; Eph. 2 :20 ; 2 Tim. 2 :19. 4. The Church and its 
foundation are joined indissolubly together by dying 
love. 5. " The gates of hell shall not prevail 
against it," — it "shall never be destroyed," but 
" shall stand forever." Bengel well says: "The 
Christian Church is like a city without walls, and 
yet the gates of hell, which assail it, shall never 
prevail." "A most magnificent promise." — Com. 
in loco. So say Stier, Adam Clarke, Scott, Barnes, 
G. W. Clarke, Bloomfield, Horsley, Vitringa, 
Olshausen, Doddridge and Lange, et mul al. Has 
Christ's promise failed? 

"The rock is not that against which the unseen is 
not to prevail ; neither has the Church ever become ex- 
tinct. These we deem gross errors."' — Lard's Quar- 
terly for 1866, p. 309. Mr. Fanning : " The Church 
was built upon the rock laid in Zion ; that she has 
withstood the rough waves of eighteen centuries, 
and that she will finally triumph over all the princi- 
palities and powers of earth." — Living Pulpit, p, 520. 
David Lipscomb : " God founded a Church that 6 will 
stand forever that the gates of hell shall not pre- 
vail against. " — Gospel Advocate, for 1867, p. 770. 
im True witnesses of Christ never failed from the 
earth." — Isaac Errett, Walks About Jerusalem, p. 
142.* (The above quotations, from Lard's Qua?'- 

t That these Campbellites and Pedo- rahtists, when they come 
to justify the origin of their Churches, say the gates of hell did 
prevail against the Church, is true. But then they speak froin 
their churches ; here they speak from the Bible, 



114 



ORIGIN OF THE 



terly, Gospel Advocate, Living Pulpit, are taken from 
Ray-Lucas Deb. p. 320,) 

IV. " Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, all 
power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go 
ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in 
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
Holy Ghost ; teaching them to observe all things what- 
soever I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you 
alway, even unto the end of the world." — Matt. 28 :18- 
20. 1. Christ promises His presence. 2. His presence 
is here implied to be the only guarantee of the mis- 
sion, but the sure one. 3. This promise is to His 
Church. That this is true, is evident (a) from the 
commission belonging to the Church;(b) from baptism 
etc., all the duty of only the Church. This will hardly 
be questioned. 4. Christ's promise is to insure that the 
nations will be taught, baptized, etc. That He has 
promised to be with His Church to guarantee the pre- 
servation of baptism — all things included in the com- 
mission—is clear. 

A kingdom without organization — definite, ascer- 
tainable laws ; organization, as many loosely try to 
apply it to the kingdom of Christ, is the creature of 
the babel of sectarianism. It never did exist, in 
nature, in politics or in grace ; and never can exist. It 
is twin brother to the idea of an invisible Church — as 
if there were invisible men and women. The only part 
of the Church which is invisible is the part which has 
4 6 crossed over the river." 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH 



115 



5. Christ promises His presence always — all the 
days, pasas tas heemeras, not leaving a single day for 
apostasy. 6. If this Church has gone into Babylon 
He is ffone there too, and all are lost — "lo I am with 
}X)u alway even unto the end of the world. Amen." 
Bengel says on this : "A continual presence, and one 
most actually present." "This promise also belongs 
to the whole Church." — Com. in loco. Inasmuch as 
Methodism, Presbyterianism, Campbellism, etc., are 
"but of yesterday," this promise cannot apply to 
them. On this Stier says : "He is present with his 
mighty defense and aid against the gates of hell, 
which would oppose and hinder His Church in the ex- 
ecution of His commands." — Com. in loco. So, G. 
W. Clark, Scott, Matthew Henry, Barnes, Doddridge, 
Olshausen, and Adam Clark, et. mid. cd. 

V. "For the husband is the head of the wife, even 
as Christ is the head of the Church : and he is the Sa- 
vior of the body . . . Christ also loved the Church, 
and gave himself for it . . . that He might present it 
to Himself, a glorious Church, not having sjjot or 
wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy 
and without blemish . ' '— Eph. 5 : 23-29 . 1 . This is ta- 
ken from the relation of husband and wife. 2. The 
husband that does not use his utmost power to save his 
wife is an unfaithful husband. 3. Only his lack of 
power prevents him from saving his wife. 4. For 
Christ to not use His utmost power to save His Church 
would be for Him to be unfaithful to her. 5, Only 



116 



ORIGIN OF THE 



by His lack of power can the Church apostatize. 6. 
But, "all power in heaven and in earth" belongs to 
Him ; therefore the Church is insured forever against 
apostasy. He "gave Himself for it," is its "Savior." 
7. An apostate Church is not a "glorious" Church, 
has spots, wrinkles, serious blemishes. 8. But, inas- 
much as Christ's Church has "no such thing," His 
Church shall never apostatize. On this, Adam Clark 
says, "Christ exercises His authority over the Church 
so as to save and protect it." — Com. in loco, verses 26 
27, Bengel, Matthew Henry and Adam Clark allude to 
"the different ordinances which He has appointed ; 
hence, they agree that the passages speak of the 
Church organization — in loco. See Matt. Henry. 

VI. Having been "built upon the foundation of 
the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being 
the chief corner stone ; in whom all the building fitly 
framed together, groweth unto a holy temple in the 
Lord."— Eph. 2:20,21. 1. This building— the church 
— is "fitly framed together.'" 2. It is framed, joined 
to its foundation — "in whom." 

3. A. Church being framed to the foundation so as 
to be removed from the foundation is not" fitly framed-, 
the only fitly framing, according to the spirit and the 
design of Christianity, is that which so frames the 
Church into its foundation, that it can never be razed 
by the Devil ; and, thus, Wesley s, Campbells, Calvins 
left to rebuild it. 4. As it is "fitly framed" into 
its foundation, if the Devil has pushed it into Baby- 



CAMPBELL1TE CHURCH. 



117 



Ion, the foundation, too, is gone ; for they are " fitly 
framed together." 

VII. " Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which 
cannot be moved ."--Heb. 12:28. Greenfield, Liddell 
and Seott define the Greek, " shaken," and the Bible 
Union and the New Eevision render it "shaken" in- 
stead of " moved." 1. If this kingdom cannot be 
shaken, surely the Church cannot be pushed from its 
foundation into Babylon. 2. The Church, then, must 
ever be faithful to its Husband — Church succession. 

VIII. Again, Christ is the King of His Church. 
— Matt, 21 :5. 1. To destroy the kingdom is to destroy 
the king. 2. If Christ's Church has been destroyed, 
by apostasy, as King, Christ is destroyed. 3. But as 
His Kingship in His Church is essential to save a lost 
world, if for no other reason, He w T ould preserve His 
Church from apostasy. 4. In no instance has a King ever 
lost his Kingship, except by being too weak to save it. 
5. But Christ has " all power;" therefore, He will 
save His Kingship by saving His Church from apos- 
tasy. 

IX. Christ is "High Priest" of His Church. — 
Heb. 10:21. 1. Christ's Priesthood is essentially re- 
lated to His Church. 2. To destroy His Church is to 
destroy His Priesthood. 3. Inasmuch as He can never 
permit His Priesthood to be destroyed, He can never 
permit apostasy to destroy His Church. 

X. Church succession grows out of the nature of 
the truth as used by the Spirit. The truth thus origi- 



118 



ORIGIN OF THE 



nated and preserved the apostolic Church. Unless the 
truth has since lost its power, it has surely preserved 
the Church from apostasy. The same cause, under 
like conditions, will always produce the same effect. 
The truth is like conditioned for all time ; w 7 hich is 
only by sinful nature and the unchangeable Spirit; 
therefore Church succession. 

XI. Church succession grows out of the mission of 
the Church. Her mission is to preach the gospel to 
the world, preserve the truth and the ordinances. See 
Chap. 34, of this book. If the Church were necessary 
in apostolic times it is necessary " alway, even unto 
the end of the world."— Matt. 28 :20. Did not Christ 
provide for this necessity by providing for Church 
succession? Or, was there, here, a little omission 
w T hich Wesley, Calvin, Campbell, etc., provided for? 

No doctrine of the Bible is more clearly revealed 
than is the doctrine of Church succession. As easily 
can one deny the atonement. Convince me that it is 
false, convince me that there is no Church to-day that 
has continued from the time of Christ, and you con- 
vince me the Bible is false. Pedo-rantists and Camp- 
bellites have admitted that Church succession is a Bible 
doctrine, so clearly is it taught in the Bible. Prof. 
Bannerman, a Presbyterian, says: 66 There are state- 
ments in Scripture that seem distinctly to intimate 
that the Christian Church shall always continue to 
exist in the world, notwithstanding that all is earthly 
and hostile around her. He has founded it upon a 



CAMPBELL ITE CHURCH. 



119 



rock ; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 
. . . That Christ will be with His Church 'alway, 
even unto the end of the world/ ministering the need- 
ful support and grace for its permanent existence on 
earth, we cannot doubt." The Church of Christ, 
Vol. I,]:). 51. " He has left us a promise that the 
powers of evil shall never finally prevail against or 
sweep it entirely away ; and as belonging essentially to 
the due administration of that kingdom, and forming a 
part of it, the outward dispensation of the ordinances 
and worship in the Church shall never fail." — idem, 
p. 333 , " The ministry, embracing an order of men 
to discharge its duties, is a standing institution in the 
Christian Church since its first establishment until now T , 
and Leslie, in his Short Method with the Deists, has 
fairly and justly appealed to the uninterrupted existence 
of the office as the standing and permanent monument 
of the great primary facts of Christianity, and, there- 
fore, as demonstrative evidence of its truth." — idem, 
p. 439. 

In his Letters to Bishop Morris, Eld. J. M. Mathes, 
a leading Campbellite, adduces the recent origin of the 
Methodist Church as one evidence that it is not the 
Church of Christ. He says : " The M. E. Church, as 
an organism is not old enough to be the Church of 
God."-- p. 140. 

"In the darkest ages of Popery, God never ' left 
Himself without a witness.' It is true that from the 
rise of that Anti-christian power till the dawn of the 



120 



OKTGIN OF THE 



Eef orrnation, the people of Christ may be emphatically 
denominated a 'little flock,' yet small as their num- 
ber may appear to have been to the eye of man, and 
unable as historians may be, to trace with accuracy, the 
saints of the Most High, amidst ' a world lying in wick- 
edness,' it cannot be doubted that even then, there was 
a remnant, which kept the commandments of God, and 
the testimony of Jesus Christ. If God reserved to 
Himself c seven thousand in Israel who had not bowed 
the knee to Baal,' in the reign of idolatrous Ahab, can 
we suppose, that during any preceding period, His 
Church has ceased to exist, or that His cause has 
utterly perished ?" — Hist. Waldenses by the American 
jS. S. Union, p. 1. 

The attempt is made, in two ways, to weaken 
the force of these Scriptures, for the succession of 
Churches. 1. By resorting to the loose, assumed 
meaning, of the word Church, as not including organi- 
zation. Bntin reply (a) I have shown that the well 
established use of ekklesia (sxx/^aca) indicates or- 
ganization. See the first part of this chapter, (b) 
No man can show where it ever excludes organization. 
— Ecclesiology, p. 102. (c) There can be no reason 
assigned why God — if there is such — should care so 
much for a general, indefinable, intangible, " invisi- 
ble' ' body of men and women who have no definite places 
of meeting, definite and tangible objects before it, as to 
promise to preserve it, while He cared so little for a 
special, definable, tangible, visible body of men and 



C A MPBELLITE CHURCH. 



121 



women with definite places of meeting and tangible 
objects before it, as to give it no promise of preser- 
vation, (d) The preaching, the ordinances, the ad- 
ministration of discipline — all the work of the gospel 
having been committed, not to a general, indefinable, 
intangible, invisible body of men and women, with no 
places of meeting, no objects before them, but to 
organization, it is clear that, whatever may be promised 
to a non-organization, the very mission and the very 
design of the organization — lead us to expect its preser- 
vation. When Paul directed Timothy 4 4 how men 
ought to behave themselves in the house of God, which 
is the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground 
of the truth," — 1 Tim. 3 :15, he spoke of organization 
with officers — " bishops 99 and " deacons " — see the 
context in verses 1-13. The election of officers, the 
reception, the discipline and exclusion of members, 
the keeping of the ordinances — everything necessary 
for the work of . the gospel and the salvation of a lost 
world was committed to " organized churches." Com- 
pare Matt. 28 :19, 20 ; Acts 1 :26 ; 6:2, 3, 5 ; 10 :47 ; 
15 :22 ; 16 :4 ; Rom. 14 :1 ; 1 Cor. 5 :4, 5 ; 2 Cor. 2 :6 : 
1 Cor. 11:2; 2 Thess. 3:6; Rev. 2:14; 3: 10, in which 
it will be seen that the Churches elected their officers, 
received, excluded members, preached the gospel, kept 
everything in order. In Chap. 30 and 34 of this book 
this is especially set forth. In preaching, baptizing, 
receiving, excluding, the Churches are the powers 
through which the King of Zion governs, extends His 



122 



OEIGIN OF THE 



empire. A. Campbell, of the Churches, says: 
' ' But as these communities possess the oracles of God 
. . . they are in the records of the kingdom regarded 
as the only constitutional citizens of the kingdom." 
Chris. System, p. 1 72. Few deny this necessity for the 
Churches, until they come to meet the impregnable 
stronghold of Bible promises of succession, when they 
disparage them for their own general, intangible, in- 
visible — I must say it — nothing ; and then they have 
succession promised to their pet — nothing. Some of 
them will say : " Yes, we admit, that through all 
ages there were men and women who held Bible prin- 
ciples, Bible doctrines, Bible ordinances, etc." Yet, 
in the next breath, they deny that these were Churches ! 
Just as if the life, evinced by the maintenance of these 
"principles," these "ordinances" and the "doc- 
trine" would not maintain the Scriptural Church 
organization. Where, to-day, find we men and women 
who maintain Bible principles, Bible ordinances, Bible 
doctrine, etc., without Scriptural organization? In- 
deed, what is such a life in manifestation but organi- 
zation and the work of organization ? The Scriptures 
represent the organization as indispensable to the purity, 
the preservation of the doctrine, the gospel and the 
ordinances. But, to rob the Church of the promise of 
preservation, it is denied that the Church is necessary 
to such purposes. What these deniers of succession 
think the Church was instituted for, would require 
more than the wisdom of Solomon to tell. (2) It is 



CAMPBELLTE CHURCH. 



123 



claimed that the apostasy of some Churches proves the 
apostasy of all. Excuse me for reducing the objection 
to a logical absurdity, in stating it. As well prove that 
a whole army deserts from some having deserted. As 
well prove that all the angels apostatized from some 
having apostatized. As well prove that all the prov- 
inces of a kingdom have rebelled from some having re- 
belled. The Scriptures speak of some Churches being 
spewed out, their candlesticks being removed. The 
Romish Church is only apostasy. But the promises to 
the Church, to the kingdom are, that ' ' it shall stand 
forever," that " the gates of Hades shall not prevail 
against it." 

The attempt is, also, made to weaken the statements 
of commentators, etc., that the Scriptures promise suc- 
cession. This is done in the same way by which the 
attempt is made to weaken the direct statements of the 
Scriptures, viz., by saying that these commentators 
mean the general, indefinable, intangible, "invisible" 
body of men and women — Church means men and 
women — with no place of meeting, no objects before it 
— the "invisible Church/' To this I reply : Some of 
these writers have fallen into the error of speaking of 
an "invisible Church," but (1)1 have shown that they 
speak of the "visible" Church as being preserved. For 
example, Adam Clark says, that the Church, of Eph. 
5 : 23-29, is a Church with ordinances.^ (2) But, if 

t An invisible Church — if there is such a thing, has neither ordi- 
nances nor anything else. If any passage, in the Bible, seems to 
mean an -invisible" Church this passage is that one. 



124 



ORIGIN OF THE 



every one of these writers understood these promises 
as applicable to only an "invisible" Church it does 
not, in the least, weaken their testimony to these prom- 
ises, guaranteeing Church succession. The promises 
of succession to a Church are one thing ; what kind 
of a Church is given these promises, is quite another. 
I have not quoted some of these writers as defining 
the Church, to which the promises were given ; but I 
have quoted them all to prove that the promises clearly 
leave no ground to doubt that succession, of some kind 
of a Church, is promised. Having proved that the 
Churchesf of the New Testament are organizations, to 
which are committed, the gospel, the doctrine, the or- 
dinances, the discipline — that they are thus "the house 
of God, which is the Church of the living God, the 
pillar and the ground of the Truth" (1 Tim. 3 : 15. ) 
whoever denies that these are the Church to which the 
promises of preservation are given has his controversy 
not with me so much as with the King in Zion. \ So 



f "The learned Dr. Owen f ally maintains, that in no approved 
writer, for two hundred years after Christ, is mention made of 
any organized, visibly professing Church, except a local congre- 
gation of Christians." — Church Members' Man., p. 36, b} r William 
Urowell. 

X That the reader may neither be confused nor think that I 
am confused I will state that I use "Church," in the singular, to 
denote the aggregate of churches. Just as it is used in Mtt. 16 : 
18; Eph. 1 : 22; 5 :24; Col. 1 :18. It is thus used by synecdoche. 
and I use " churches' ' for the independent organizations — the lit- 
eral churches as in Acts 9 :31 ; 15 :41 ; 16:5; 19 :37 ; Kom. 16 ; 4,16; 
1 Cor. 7;17; 11 :16: 14: 33, 34; 16: 1, 19. To say Baptist Church 
for all Baptist Churches is correct; so is it to say Baptist church- 
es. 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH. 



125 



far as the use of their testimony is concerned, it matters 
not, if these writers believed the Churches of the New 
Testament are Romish or Mormon churches. They 
agree that whatever the churches of the New Testa- 
ment are, they are promised succession. And I have 
proved them to be organizations. 

I will close this argument with the testimony of one 
Methodist and two Presbyterian scholars. 

Adam Clarke: 4 4 The Church of the living God. The 
assembly in which God lives and works each number 
of which is a living stone, all of whom, properly united 
among themselves," — this is organization, — ' 'grow up 
into a holy temple in the Lord." On 1 Tim. 3:15 (My 
italics.) 

Barnes, Presbyterian : ' 'Thus it is with the Church. 
It is intrusted with the business of maintaining the 
truth, of defending it from the assaults of error, and 
of transmuting it to future times. The truth is, in 
fact, upheld in the world, by the Church. The people 
of the world feel no interest in defending it, and it is 
to the Church of Christ that it is owing that it is pre- 
served and transmitted from age to age . . . The sta- 
bility of the truth on earth is dependent on the Church 
. . . Other systems of religion are swept away ; other 
opinions change; other forms of doctrine vanish; but 
the knowledge of the great system of redemption is pre- 
served on earth unshaken, because the Church is 
preserved and its foundations can not be moved. As 
certainly as the Church continues to live, so certain 



126 



OEIGIN OF THE 



will it be that the truth of God will be perpetuated in 
the world." On 1 Tim. 3:15, quoted by J. R. Graves, 
LL. D., in Old Landmarkism,]). 44. 

As I remarked s it matters not what these writers 
think was the Church. I quote them, to show that the 
Scriptures promise succession to the Church, that 
maintains the preaching, the doctrine, the ordinances, 
the discipline, etc., whatever that is; and, independ- 
ently of these writers, I prove that Church is local 
Churches, with organizations. 

Again, says Bannerman: " The visible Church is 
Christ's kingdom; and the administration of govern- 
ment, ordinance, and discipline within it, is but a part 
of that administration by which He rules over His peo- 
ple. That kingdom may at different times be more or 
less manifest to the outward eye and more or less 
conspicuous in the view of men.f But He has left us 
a promise that the powers of evil shall never finally 

f Many have, hastily, concluded that the Church must be 
clearly traced, by history, through every age, in order for it to jus- 
tifiably claim to have existed, since the apostles' time. But, 
while the Scriptures, most clearly, promise it succession — in the 
sense of never ceasing to exist, not Apostolic succession which is 
"a succession of hierarchal bishops," as imagined successors 
of the apostles, they as clearly teach that, to say the 
least, it should be very difficult to clearly trace it, by history, 
through every age. In Rev. 12:6, the Church is spoken of as 
hidden i4 in the wilderness" u a thousand, two hundred three 
score days" — 1260 years. The Church, thus driven into obscuri- 
ty, is thereby so hidden from the eye of the uninspired historian 
that its footsteps are, necessarily, in some periods, difficult to 
trace. The very difficulty which historians find, in tracing the 
Church, in some periods of its history, is an indispensable evi- 
dence of its being the true Church, and, therefore of its succession.. 
One way, by which we know that the Romish Church is not the 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH. 



127 



prevail against it or sweep it entirely away : and, as be- 
longing essentially to a due administration of that king- 
dom, and forming apart of it, the outward dispensa- 
tion of ordinances and worship in the Church shall 
never fail. * * * There are express announce- 
ments in Scripture, warranting us to assert that the 
various institutions and rites that make up the outward 
provision of government, worship, ordinance, and dis- 
cipline in the Church of Christ, should be continued to 
the end of the world" — Idem, pp. 332, 333. 

On pp, 439, 442; "The ministry, embracing an 
order of men to discharge its duties, is a standing 
institution in the Christian Church , since its first estab- 
lishment until now ; and Leslie, in his short Method 



Church of Christ, is the clearness with which it can trace its ex- 
istence throughout the dark ages. Of course, it finds its begin- 
ning as late as the third century. But the clearness of its success- 
ion, in the dark ages, is its conviction. On the other hand, what- 
ever Church can point to any period, since the Apostles' time, 
back of which it certainly did not exist, and in which it had its 
origin, is, certainly not the Church of Christ, since it is, thereby, 
proved to be of post-Apostolic origin. No man can, historically, 
demonstrate his succession from Adam; yet, from Scripture, he 
cannot doubt that succession. So we know the Church has 
a continued existence from the first century. But, as in the case 
of any man, concerning whom it could be proved that he had an 
absolute new beginning since Adam, we should be certain that 
he was not Adam* successor, even though he might closely or 
even wholly resemble him, so we are certain that any Church is 
not the successor of the first century which had a new beginning 
since that time. So of an oceanic telegraph. We cannot see it, 
or hear it. save at each end. Yet, we know it is continuous, as we 
see and hear it at one end. Xo line, having its beginning any- 
where in the sea, can be a trans-oceanic line. So, no Church, 
having its beginning since the first century, can be the Christian 
Church. But the Church found in the first century and in any 
century, since, can but be the Christian Church. 



128 



ORIGIN OF THE 



with the Deists, has fairly and justly appealed to the 
uninterrupted existence of the office as a standing and 
permanent monument of the great primary facts of 
Christianity, and as therefore demonstrative evidence 
of its truth. . . . There are a number of Scripture 
declarations that the promises, of the permanence and 
perpetuity of a ministry in the Church, which have 
been appropriated and perverted by the advocates of 
apostolic succession into arguments in favor of the doc- 
trine. ... In short, most of those Scripture state- 
ments, which afford us warrant to say that there shall 
be a Church alwa}^s on this earth, and that the office of 
minister and pastor is a standing appointment in the 
Church, have been pressed into the service of the 
theory, that an apostolical succession in the line of 
each individual minister is essential to the validity of 
the ministerial title, f and, as most, if not all, the advo- 
cates hold essential also to the existence of a Church at 
all. Now, with regard to such statements of Scrip- 
ture, it may readily be admitted — nay, it is to be 
strenuously affirmed— that they demonstrate this much, 
that a Church of Christ, more or less visible, is always to 
exist on the earth ; but this conclusion has nothing to 
do with apostolical succession in the Church. Further 
still, many of these texts may be held as demonstrating 

t Advocates for receiving persons into our churches, on alien 
immersions, have fallen into the Romanist and Episcopal error; 
for they claim that we can have no proof of a regularly constituted 
ministry until we can trace ''every minister's pedigree back to 
apostolic times ! Just as if a- Scriptural Church is not the author- 
ity to baptize ! 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH 



129 



that the office of the ministry is a standing and perma- 
nent one in the Church. . . . There are not a few 
statements in Scripture that justify us in believing that 
the office of the ministry in the Church can never, as an 
office, become extinct ; that an order of men set apart 
to its public duties can never, as an order, be inter- 
rupted and come to an end, so long as the Church itself 
endures." (My italics.) 

Prof. Bannerman, feeling the force of this, against 
the Presbyterian Church, tries to evade it by a resort 
to the notion of a M universal Christian society, and in 
all the branches of the Christian Church." But this 
does not weaken the force of the quoted statements. 
How significantly, then, is every honest scholar bound 
to voice the Lord's statement : " Upon this rock will I 
build my Church and the gates of Hades shall not pre- 
vail against it." — Matt. 16:18. 

The Scriptures more than justify the lines of 
Newton : 

" Glorious things of thee are spoken, 
Zion, city of our God; 
He whose word cannot be broken, 
Formed thee for His own abode. 

Lord, thy Church is still thy dwelling, 

Still is precious in thy sight, 
Judah's temple far excelling, 

Beaming with the gospel's light. 

On the Eock of Ages founded, 

What can shake her sure repose? 
With salvation's walls surrounded, 

She can smile at all her foes." 



130 



ORIGIN OF THE 



Or of Kelley : 

u Zion stands with hills surrounded, 
Zion kept by power divine ; 
All her foes shall be confounded, 
Though the world in arms combine : 
Happy Zion, 
What a favored lot is thine. 

In the furnace God may prove thee, 
Thence to bring thee forth more bright, 
But can never cease to love thee ; 
Thou art precious in His sight : 
God is with thee; 
God, thine everlasting life," 

Poets join Scriptural expositors, in declaring Church 
preservation and succession a fundamental, Bible doc- 
trine f. 

Having proved that the Church should never apos 
tatize is a fundamental, Bible doctrine, I pass : 

2. To notice that it is a fundamental infidel doctrine 
that it should apostatize. 

A few years ago I met in debate a Spiritist, who 
affirmed, as a proposition, that the Church has aposta- 
tized. So Mormonism teaches. Swedenborg says of 
the Church: " Its condition may be compared with a 

f As this book is not a historical work I introduce only this 
note. Dr. Ypeij and Prof. Dermont, of the Keformed Church of 
Netherlands, substantially Presbyterian, in a most learned work 
say: "We have now seen that the Baptists, who in former 
times, were called Anabaptists, and at a latter period Mennon- 
ites, were originally Waldenses, who, in the history of the Church, 
even from the most ancient times, have received such a well de- 
served homage. On this account the Baptists may be considered, 
as of old, the only religious community which has continued 
from the times of the Apostles, as a Christian Society, which has 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH. 



131 



ship, laden with merchandise, of the greatest value, 
which, as soon as it got out of the harbor, was immedi- 
ately tossed about with a tempest, and presently being 
wrecked in the sea, ^inks to the bottom." — True 
Chr. Belig., p. 269. 

Says Buckle: "The new religion was corrupted by 
old follies, . . . until after a lapse of a few gene- 
rations, Christianity exhibited so grotesque and hideous 
a form that its best features were lost, and the linea- 
ments of its earlier loveliness were altogether de- 
stroyed." — -Hist. Civ. j vol. 183. 

Infidels, of the present, seeing that the Church yet 
stands, are preaching its apostasy. Voltaire said the 
Church would be extinct before A. D. 1800. Eobert 
Ingersoll, and every infidel lecturer and writer, pro- 
claim the doctrine of the apostasy. The Devil has 
believed in and worked for Church apostasy ever since 
its birth. Christ said : " The gates of Hades shall not 
prevail against " the Church ; the combined powers of 
hell have ever said "they shall," "that they have " 

kept pure through all ages, the evangelical doctrines of religion. 
The uncorrupted, inward and outward condition of the Baptist 
community affords proof of the truth contested by the Romish 
Church of the great necessity of a Reformation of religion . . and 
also a refutation of the erroneous notion of the Roman 
Catholics, that their denomination is the most ancient." — Wm* 
B. Williams , Lect. on Bapt. Hist. Before me lie many testi- 
monies from Pedo rantists, Romanists, and even some from 
Campbellites, to the same effect. The denomination is indebted 
to D. B. Ray, D. D., for " Baptist Succession, " which is the best 
popular History of Baptists which has yet appeared. I hope my 
readers will get the book. I have material for a volume on the 
subject which I hope to publish. 



132 



OKIGIN OF THE 



" prevailed against it." With which of these parties do 
you, my dear reader, agree? Remember, you cannot 
evade the question, by resorting to the assumption of 
an " invisible " Church ; for we have seen (a) that the 
only Church which the New Testament speaks of is a 
local Church, with organization, and (b) if there were 
< ' invisible " Churches, the promise of preservation is 
given to the " visible." 

3. The Oampbellite Church is based on the infidel 
assumption, upon which nearly all the sects are founded, 
viz., the apostasy, harlotry of the blessed Bride or 
Church of Christ. 

A wife is " off on a visit." To steal the wife's 
place, a woman circulates the report that the wife has 
been lost at sea. The woman knows this report is nec- 
essary to make room for her. So, every new sect 
builder and new sect — and sects now number hundreds, 
— knowing there is no room for another bride of Christ, 
while the first is alive or true to Him, proclaims the 
death or the unfaithfulness of His first Bride. 
Bangs, one of the earliest Methodist writers, said : 
' 'That the state of society was such in Great Britain at 
the time Wesley arose as to call, in most imperious lan- 
guage, for a Reformation, no one, at all acquainted 
with those times, I presume, will pretend to question." 
Original Church, p. 103. Again: "Methodism arose 
from the necessity of the times " — Idem, p. 302. Mr. 
Bangs omitted telling his readers that the very Church 
—the Episcopal — that then ruled Britain, was a Church 



CAMPBELL ITE CHURCH. 



133 



which originated with the bold assumptions of the 
apostasy or harlotry of the Bride of Christ, and of the 
necessity of a "reformation." 

Porter, another standard Methodist writer : "More 
than a thousand years the Church was sunk in the deep- 
est ignorance and corruption, so that it is exceedingly 
doubtful whether there was a valid bishop on earth."— 
Compendium of MetJi.p. 329. Onp.337: "The Church 
was dead." A sect, calling themselves "Bible Christ- 
ians" — wonder if the Cambellites cannot get a sugges- 
tion from this name, as to what to call their Church? 
— says: "In subsequent times, when reformation was 
needed, a Luther, a Calvin, a Melancthon and others 
have been raised up, etc. . . . Under Providence" 
— by the way, these sect builders all talk of a Provi- 
dential call, but no one of them recognizes the others 
call as sufficiently doing the work for which they were 
called, and none of them shows us what wonderful 
Providence called them ! — "the body, known by the ap- 
pellation of Bible Christians, began to assume an exter- 
nal, visible existence as a Church, about the year 1800, 
principally through the labors of Rev. William Cow- 
herd." — Relig. Denom., p. 123. Of the German Sev- 
enth Day Baptists ( ?), William M. Fahnestock, 
M. D., of that sect, says: "About the year 1694 a con- 
troversy arose in the Protestant Churches of Germany 
and Holland in which vigorous attempts were made to 
reform some of the errors of the Church ... In the 
year 1708, Alexander Mack . . . and seven others, in 



134 



ORIGIN OF THE 



Schwartzenau, Germany, began to examine carefully 
and impartially the doctrines of the New Testament, 
and to ascertain what are the obligations imposed on 
Christians; determined to lay aside all preconceived" 
— the special plea of Campbellism — "opinions and tra- 
ditional observances. The result of their inquiries 
terminated in the formation of the society, now called 
the Dunkers, or First Day German Baptists," — Relig. 
Denom. p. 109. Of a sect called "The Free Commu- 
nion Baptists" (?),Rev. A. D. Williams, one of its 
ministers, writes: "At the close of the seventh cen- 
tury two pernicious errors had crept into ecclesiastical 
matters in some parts of New England." As a result : 
"During the first half of the eighteenth century a num- 
ber of these societies were formed in Rhode Island and 
Connecticut." — Relig. Denom. p. 82. 

Rev. Porter S. Burbank, of the " Free- Will Bap- 
tists" (?), writes: "Generally there was but one 
Baptist denomination in America till the origin of the 
Freewill Baptists, a little more than sixty years ago. 

. The Freewill Baptist connection in North 
America commenced A. D. 1780, in which year its first 
Church was organized." Then he proceeds to justify 
its organization, by such statements as: "Churches 
were in a lax state of discipline, and much of the 
preaching was little else than dull, moral essays, or 
prosy disquisitions on abstract doctrines." — Relig. 
Denom. pp. 74, 75. John Winebrenner, the founder 
of the Winebrenarians, who call themselves " The 



CAMPBELL1TE CHURCH. 



135 



Church of God " — a suggestion for the Campbellites — 
as that name is as near as any name, which the Bible 
calls the Church, nearer than most of the names the} r 
have given their Church, says : " We shall accordingly 
notice . . . that religious community, or body of be- 
lievers, who profess to have come out from all human 
and unscriptural organizations" — just what the Camp- 
bellite Church professes — " who have fallen back upon 
original grounds, and who wish, therefore, to be called 
by no other distinctive name, collectively taken, than 
the Church of God." So he says: "In October, 
1830," some persons 64 met together" and organized 
the " Church of God."— Relig. Dehorn., p. 172. 
Of course, though Mr. Winebrenner founded his 
church, like A. Campbell, he says it was originated in 
the first century! In a tract, published by the 66 Sev- 
enth Day Adventists," at Battle Creek, Mich., — a sect 
which is doing far more than Ingersoll to introduce 
Sabbath desecration and materialism — entitled 
6 * The Seventh-Day Adventist: a brief sketch of their 
origin, progress, and principles," we read : "Our field 
of inquiry leads us back only to the great advent move- 
ment of 1840-44. Eespecting that movement, it is 
presumed that the public are more or less informed ; 
but they may not be so well aware of the causes w T hich 
have led since that time to the rise of a class of people 
calling themselves Seventh-Day Adventists."-- p. 1. 
(My italics.) Then, on the assumption of all things 
needing reforming, it says: "A Seventh-Day Baptist 



136 



ORIGIN OF THE 



sister, Mrs. Rachel D, Preston, from the State of New 
York, moved to Washington, N. H., where there was 
a Church of Adventists. From them she received the 
doctrine of the soon-coming of Christ, and in return 
instructed them in reference to the claims of the fourth 
commandment in the decalogue. This was in 1844. 
Nearly that whole church immediately commenced the 
observance of the seventh day, and thus have the honor 
of being the first Seventh-day Adventist Church in 
America — p. 5. (My italics.) 

Thus, we see how sects arise, how Christians are di- 
vided, how the world is led into infidelity by sectarian- 
ism. The infidel doctrine, that the blessed 
Bride of Christ is dead, or has been unfaithful 
to Him, is the basis, the license of the whole of 
the sectarian trouble.. Once it is admitted, every 
one, good or bad, who becomes offended, and who can 
get a few followers, can get up a " new Church," so 
on ad infinitum. 

Thus, here comes Alexander Campbell, like all the 
others, founding a new sect, claiming to reform the 
Church, to " get back to the Bible," ete. A. Campbell 
says that he originated the Campbellite Church from 
"A deep and an abiding impression that the power, 
the consolations, and joys — the holiness and happiness 
of Christ's religion were lost in the forms and cere- 
monies, in the speculations and conjectures, in the 
feuds and bickerings of sects and schisms." — Chris- 
tian System , p, 6. ( My italics . ) 



CAMPBELLTE CHURCH. 



137 



If all this were lost, surely, there was nothing left 
of the Church. Every follower of Mr. Campbell pro- 
claims this infidel doctrine, of his father. 

With approval, Prof. K. Richardson says of Camp- 
bell: ' ' Continually deploring . . . the divided and 
distracted condition of the religious community at 
large . . . he at length formed the resolution to make 
a public effort for the restoration of the original unity 
of the Church." — Relig. Denom., p. 224. 

Prof. Richardson then proceeds to show how he 
added another sect to the existing sects, to remove( ?) 
sectarianism, etc! Of the aim of A. Campbell, Fred- 
erick D. Power, pastor of the Campbellite Church, at 
Washington, at the time of Pres. Garfield's death, says : 

"Alexander Campbell began to set forth with great 
vigor and learning . . . the plea for a restoration of 
the original gospel and primitive order of things . . . 
It was not a reformation that was sought, but a resto- 
ration, a renewal of the ancient landmarks of the 
Christian religion." — 8 chaff -Her zog Ency., vol. 1, p. 
644. 

Mr. Richardson : "The process of demolition was 
not with him an ultimate end, for if he sought to re- 
move the awkward and rickety structures of partyism, 
or the broken and accumulated rubbish of human tra- 
dition, it was that he might build again upon their an- 
cient sites the bulwarks and toivers of Z ion." Me- 
moirs of A. Campbell, vol. 2, p. 38 — quoted in Ray- 
Lucas Debate, p. 81. 



138 ORIGIN OF THE 

On p. 252 we read: "We have to dispossess de- 
mons, and exorcise unclean spirits, as well as to pro- 
claim the acceptable year of the Lord. The chief 
priests, scribes and rulers of the people are generally 
in league against us." By comparing Matt. 3 : 32-34; 
10:1; Isa. 61:1-6; Luke 4 : 16-22 with the language, 
just quoted, it will be seen that A. Campbell claimed 
to do just what Jesus did, to have been prophesied of 
as the Savior; and that his followers indorse his 
claims. Again, Mr. Campbell declares that "he re- 
vived the whole Christian community as a physician 
revived a plethoric, paralytic patient. Desperate dis- 
eases require desperate remedies. The lancet, blisters, 
and the severest friction are the mildest remedies to 
restore sensibility and healthy action of the nervous 
system to such unfortunate invalids. In a word, and 
without a figure, he regarded the so-called Christian 
community as having lost all healthy excitability ; and 
his first volume of the ' Christian Baptist,' 6 the most 
uncharitable,' the most severe, the most sarcastic, and 
ironical, he ever wrote, was an experiment to ascer- 
tain whether society could be moved by fear or rage, 
whether it could be made to feel at all the decisive 
symptoms of the mortal malady which was consuming 
the last spark of moral life and motion." — Mill.Harb. 
vol. 2, p. 419 — quoted from Text Boole on Camp., p. 
95. 

Mr. Campbell says : "I do, indeed, contend for the 
restoration of the original gospel and order of things, 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH. 



139 



and do think that no sect in Christendom has the one 
or the other. " — Mill. Harb., vol. 5, p. 251, in Ray- 
Lucas Debate, p. 204. On p. 374, of the Mill. Harb. 
" There is not one voice heard in all the loorld outside 
of the boundaries of the present reformation, calling 
upon the people to return to the original gospel and 
order of things. " — In Ray-Lucas Debate, p. 202. 
(My italics.) If this were true we should be slow to 
reproach Mr. Campbell for applying Matt. 9 :32-34; 
11 :1; Isa. 6 :l-6 and Luke 4:16-22 to himself , lest we 
reproach the Savior! Tlie Baptist clips from The 
Christian, a Campbellite paper, an essay, read by J. 
C. Reynolds, who was an associate editor of that pa- 
per, which essay was read, with approval, before the 
Howard County, Mo., Campbellite meeting. He is 
riving the reason or justification for the origin of 
Campbellism : 6 6 Our work is largely one of restora- 
tion. To restore to the people, that which they have 
let slip from them is our special duty. The people 
have lost much. Their most precious treasures have 
been taken from them. Let us enumerate their losses 
and thereby enumerate the items of our work : . 

1. The people had lost the Word of God. 

2. They had lost the name of the Lord. 

3. They had lost the one baptism. 

4. They had lost the proper person to be baptized. 

5. They had lost the design of baptism. 

6. They had lost the order of the steps taken to 
get out of the kingdom of Satan and into the kingdom 



140 



ORIGIN OF THE 



7. They had lost the real work of the Holy Spirit. 

8. They had lost the proper organization of the 
Church. 

9. They had lost the primitive piety, determined 
zeal, self-sacrificing devotion and unrelenting warfare 
against sin, of the primitive Church. To restore all 
these is our work." 

This Campbellite pretension involuntarily reminds 
one of the i ' little horn" with "a mouth speaking 
great things." Dan. 7:8. Mr. Lard, upon whom fell 
A. Campbell's mantle, more than upon any other man, 
says, of Mr. Campbell : 6 'He alone did what none be- 
fore him had done . . . How well he succeeded I 
must not trust myself to say, for I rank no uninspired 
man with him." — Address on A. Campbell, p. 25, in 
Am. Bap. Flag. Thus Mr. Campbell is ranked with 
the inspired ! 

Again: " For the first time for long dreary centu- 
ries men began to feel that Christianity was perfectly 
adapted to them in their present state! . . . Indeed, 
it is not going too far to say that the whole ordinance 
except the single act was literally exhumed from the 
rubbish beneath which the universal folly of man had 
buried it." — Idem, pp. 27 \ 28, in Am. Bap. Flag. 
Let the reader carefully compare these Campbellite 
reflections aud slanders on the blessed Bride of Christ 



t The fatal error of Campbellism is it attempts to adapt 
Christianity to men in u their present state" instead of having 
men get out of "their present state, "and adapted to Christianity. 



CAMPBELL ITE CHUECH. 



141 



with the language of the Bible, in this Chapter, prom- 
ising non-apostasy. They do not hesitate to thus 
speak of the Church; and to positively contradict 
Jesus Christ. 

Thus, more pointedly and flatty, ' 'Elder J. L. Mar- 
tin, a Campbellite preacher and author, on p. 192 of 
his "Voice of the Seven Thunders," says: "The 
Lord save us from trying to go back to trace up a line 
of succession from the Apostles until now, to prove 
that we are the true Church of Christ, because the 
Church was lost as an organization. The Church on 
earth was prevailed against" Jesus Christ: "The 

GATES OF HELL SHALL NOT PREVAIL AGAINST IT." 

Matt. 16:18. 

Campbellites, in the words of Eld. J. L. Martin : — 
"The Church on Earth was Prevailed Against." 
Yet, Campbellites tell us that they are the only ones 
who follow the Bible ! ! I most solemnly avow, in con- 
sciousness of the presence of the Judge of all the 
earth, that I would be afraid to so contradict Jesus 
Christ, lest He would strike me dead. Possibly, these 
Campbellite leaders have been so engrossed with 
Campbellism as to have never studied these Scriptures 
on Church preservation. For Mr. Hand, a leading 
Campbellite preacher and author, in his reply to D. B. 
Ra}^ — a work indorsed, generally, by Campbellites — 
says : 4 6 The Savior never promised to build any Church 
to withstand the gates of hell. . . It took himself and 
the mighty power of God to withstand the gates of 



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ORIGIN OF THE 



hell." "Whoever heard of a Church built to with- 
stand the gates of hell till Mr. Eay in frantic terror, 
endeavoring to escape the falling ruins, gets off that 
romantic flight of the imagination." — Text Booh Ex- 
posed, pp. 175, 136. We have seen that Stonism, 
also, said likewise of the Church. 

Thus, we see that upon one and the same founda- 
tion with infidels and with innumerable sect builders, 
rests the Campbellite Church, — upon 6 4 the infidel as- 
sumption "that the blessed Bride of Christ has proved 
unfaithful to Him and become an ecclesiastical harlot. 
Judge, dear reader, with your eye on the bar of God, 
whether any Church, resting, essentially, on such an 
assumption, is the Church of Jesus Christ— or, even 
any part of that Church — whether it is not anti-Chris- 
tian. 



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CHAPTER X. 

THE CAMPBELLITE POSITION, AS TO THE TIME WHEN THE 
GOSPEL WAS FIRST PREACHED, THE KINGDOM / 
FIRST SET UP AND THE CHURCH FIRST 
BUILT, IS CONTRADICTORY TO THE 
HOLY SCRIPTURES. 

I use the expression, " the kingdom first set up and 
the Church first built," because the Campbellite posi- 
tion is that the kingdom and the. Church were set up in 
the first century and, having been destroyed, were again 
set up by Alexander Campbell in the present century. 
See Chapters 1, 4 and 9. The expression is accommo- 
dated to the Campbellite assumption, that there were 
two beginnings of the Church, Scripturally, we should 
saj r , ' 6 as to the time when the gospel was first preached 
and the Church and the kingdom set up." With the 
above explanations I will proceed. 

Sec. 1. Campbellites agree that upon the day of 
Pentecost the gospel was first preached, and that the 
kingdom and the Church were then first set up. Says 
Isaac Errett : "This brings us to the day of Pentecost, 
and its most significant development, as narrated in the 
second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. Here we 
reach our point of rest. Here is the grand culmi- 



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ORIGIN OF THE 



nation of the scheme of salvation. Here is the setting 
up of the kingdom. Here is seen the little stone cut 
out of the mountain which Nebuchadnezzar saw, and 
which is yet to become a great mountain, and fill the 
whole earth." — Elements af the Gospel, p. 40, in 
Ray-Lucas Deb. ; also Walks About Jerusalem, p, 35. 
See Kay-Lucas Deb. Campbellite writers, debaters, 
speakers, I believe, without exception agree with Mr. 
Errett. 

I propose to now demonstrate, from the Bible, that 
the gospel was preached, the kingdom and the Church 
were set up before the day of Pentecost. 

Sec. 2. What the Bible means by the word gospel. 
Euangelion (zbavyyefoou) rendered gospel is thus de- 
fined: " Liddell and Scotts' Lex: 6 In the Christian 
sense, the glad tidings.'" Robinson's Lex: 4 4 The 
glad tidings of Christ and His salvation." Bagster's 
Lex : " Glad tidings, good or joyful news," Matt. 4 : 
23 ; 9 :35 ; the gospel, doctrines of the gospel : Matt. 
26:13; Mark 8:35. Meton: the preaching of , or in- 
struction in the gospel." Greenfield's Lex: "Glad 
tidings, good or joyful news, Matt. 4 :23 ; 9 :35 ; the 
gospels, doctrines of the gospel, Matt 26 :13 ; Mark 8 : 
35 ; meton, the preaching of, or instruction in the 
gospel ; meton, a gospel, i. e. the history of the life 
and instructions of Jesus," Luke 9:6; Acts 14:7; 
Rom. 1 :15, et al. The word is from euangtlizo, 
(eua^yYeXi^co) "to bring good news, to announce glad 
tidings, especially of the gospel of Christ, and all that 



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pertains to it." Euangelistees,(zbavyyehoT7}c:) one who 
announces glad tidings ; an evangelist, preacher of the 
gospel, is from euangelizo {ehavyjeXi^w.) Euangelizo 
in the New Testament, occurs 52 times; euangelion, 
75 times ; euangelistees, 3 times. They signify the 
same. From these Lexicons — with which all Lexicons 
agree — it is evident that the gospel ot Christ means the 
good news of salvation. We may divide this into 
first, Christ's life ; second, His death ; third, His resur- 
rection ; fourth, His intercession ; fifth, salvation from 
sin through His life, death, resurrection and interces- 
sion. God's love, pardon, justification, adoption, the 
regenerating, indwelling, preserving Spirit, — all things, 
in salvation to, and including eternal glory, are in 
these four elements of Christ's work and preaching. 

Adam Clarke : " The whole doctrine of Jesus Christ, 
comprised in the history of His incarnation, miracles, 
suffering, death, resurrection, ascension, and the mis- 
sion of the Holy Spirit, by which salvation was pro- 
cured for a lost world, is expressed by the word 
zbayykhov {euangelion) ." — Preface to the Gospel of 
Matthew, p. 31. 

Sec. 3. The gospel was preached in Old Testament 
times. 1. It was preached in the types of the Old 
Testament. "For the law having a shadow of 
good things to come," "which was a figure for the 
time then present,"— Heb. 10:1; 9:9. 2. The gos- 
pel was preached in prophecy: — "In that day there 
shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and 



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ORIGIN OF THE 



to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for unclean- 
ness." — Zech. 13:1. Where, in the New Dispensa- 
tion, is the Gospel preached with more clearness 
and pathos than it is in Isaiah 53d chapter? ' Not 
only was it preached to the Jews, but it was 
preached, as designed for 6 ' all nations." — Isa. 2:2; 
Psa. 72: 11; Jer. 27:7. But, some one answers: 
' 'Yes, but it was not the gospel then in 
operation." I reply: Your objection is far from 
the truth. God says: "Turn }^ou at my reproof: 
behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make 
known my words unto you." — Prov. 1:23. "Come 
now and let us reason together, saith the Lord; though 
your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; 
though they be red like crimson they shall be as 
wool." — Isa. 1:18. "Ho every one that thirsteth, 
come ye, to the waters, and he that hath no money ; 
come ye buy and eat; yea, come buy wine and milk 
without price. . . . Incline your ear, and come unto 
me ; hear and your soul shall live . . . Seek ye the 
Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while 
he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the 
unrighteous man his thoughts ; and let him return unto 
the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him ; and to 
our God and he will abundantly pardon. "-Isa. 55:1-7. 
"Who preaches the gospel more clearly and sweetly 
than this? If this is not the blessed gospel, then 
preachers greatly err in using it in revivals. And, as 
thousands have been saved by it, thousands have been 



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saved without the gospel ! The Jews had the same law 
we have; in type, sacrifices and in such words, as 
just quoted, they had the gospel. The fifty-first 
Psalm is as clear a working of the law and the gospel 
in repentance, faith, etc., as has ever been seen under 
the New Testament. I should rejoice, if the Camp- 
bellites, generally, preached and experienced it. When 
Nicodemus expressed such ignorance of the workings 
of the gospel, in begetting us from above — John 3: 3- 
10 — Jesus did not excuse him on the Campbellite 
ground, that as the 6 'gospel would not be preached be- 
fore Pentecost," he could not be expected to know 
better; but he gave him the scathing rebuke: "Art 
thou a teacher of Israel and knowest not these 
things" — a teacher of the workings of the gospel in 
salvation and yet you know nothing of "these things !" 
Read the glorious galaxy of those who, having been 
" redeemed from among men, walked with God," and 
tell me, ye, who believe that the gospel only "is the 
power of God unto salvation," if the gospel was not 
preached before Pentecost ! — Heb. 11. 

So "the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify 
the Gentiles by faith preached the gospel beforehand 
unto Abraham ... So then they which be of faith are 
blessed with" — that is in the same blessed Savior and by 
the same blessed Gospel — "the faithful Abraham." — 
Gal. 3:8. Nothing is clearer than, that in Old Testament 
times, men were saved with the same gospel, the same 
salvation with which they are now saved. The reader 



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ORIGIN OF THE 



will keep in mind the definition of gospel, as quoted 
from the Lexicons, notice how it applies to Old Testa- 
times; and remember that Paul, in Gal. 3: 8, uses 
the very word — proeuangelizomai ( TtpoeuayyeXc^ofxac, 
composed of izpb — before — and ebayyeXt^co—l. 
announce good news), for what he uses it in Rom. 1 : 
15; ,10:15; 15:20; 1 Cor. 1 : 7 ; 9 : 16, 18 ; 15 : 1, 2 ; 
Gal. 1:8, 9, 11, 16; Eph. 2. 17. I say the very word, 
because the New Testament makes no distinction in 
sense between euangelizo and euangelion — between 
telling the good news and the good news. Hence, 
speaking of only the Old Testament, Paul says: "The 
Holy Scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto 
salvation . . . and is profitable, for doctrine, for re- 
proof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; 
that the man of God maybe perfect, thoroughly fur- 
nished unto all good works."— 2 Tim. 3:15, 16. 

Sec. 4. The gospel was preached between the time 
of the birth of Christ and Pentecost. The nature of 
John's ministry proves that it was a gospel ministry. 
1. What he preached. (1J He preached repentance. 
Matt. 3:1. (2) He preached regeneration and re- 
pentance as necessary conditions to baptism. "But 
when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees 
come to his baptism he said unto them . . . bring 
forth therefore fruit worthy" — such as prove you 
have repented — "of repentance." — Matt. 3: 7,8. Ben- 
gel comments: "/jtsrdvoca (metanoya), repentance is 
an entire change of character, and a renunciation of all 



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that is evil." — in loco. On verse 6 : "And were bap- 
tized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins." Ben- 
gel comments : "The verb is in the middle voice,— 
szojuoAoyou/jisvot, confessing. The preposition e£ 
denotes that they confessed their sins freely and 
expressly, not merely in the ear of John." 

Adam Clarke: "Repentance, then, implies that 
a measure of divine wisdom is communicated to the 
sinner, and that he thereby becomes wise unto salva- 
tion. That his mind , purposes, opinions are changed ; 
and that in consequence there is a total change in his 
conduct." — in. loco. 

Barnes : "Repentance implies sorrow for past offen- 
ses (2 Cor. 7 :10) ; a deep sense of the evil of sin as 
committed against God (Psa. 51 :4) ; and a full pur- 
pose to turn from transgression and live a holy life. 
Both John and Christ began their ministry by calling 
men to repentance." in loco. From Rom. 8 : 5-8 ;3 :- 
10-22 ;Gal. 5 : 19-24; Eph. 2 :10, we learn that the un- 
regenerate mind hates God, commits only sin ; and 
that only a new man will obey God. See Chap. 17, 
of this book, on Repentance, for an elucidation of this 
subject. From these Scriptures, it is certain that re- 
pentance and the new life, as the "fruit worthy of 
repentance," are the consequences of regeneration. 
Hence, Adam Clarke's comment. It is, therefore, 
certain, that John baptized only those who had led 
him to believe they were regenerate. No man can 
deny this without taking the anti-Bible position, that 



150 



ORIGIN OF THE 



the mind that 4 6 is enmity against God," which 6 ' is not 
subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be," 
and which "cannot please God," can obey him, by 
repenting and bringing forth fruit "worthy of repent- 
ance." See, especially, Rom. 8:7,8. (3) John 
preached that the Holy Spirit regenerates and sancti- 
fies. This is certain (a) because the Old Testament 
preached that. See Gen. 6:3; Isa. 44:3; Ezek. 11: 
19; 18:31; Psa, 51:10,11, 12. So clearly was the 
new birth taught, in the Old Testament, that Christ 
rebuked Nicodemus for not understanding and teach- 
ing it. The talk about John not teaching "evangeli- 
cal repentance" presumes him to have been more igno- 
rant of divine things than were the Jews, under the 
Old Testament. (b) John's preaching repentance 
and the new life necessarily implies that he preached 
the work of the Holy Spirit. Acts 19, instead of 
proving that John's converts had not received regen- 
eration and Christian baptism, proves the very contra- 
ry. 

Says Farrar : "St. Paul, accordingly questioned 
them, and finding that they knew little or nothing of 
the final phase of Jolm's teaching, or of the revelation 
of Christ, and were ignorant of the very name of the Holy 
Spirit, he gave them further instruction until they 
were fitted to receive baptism." — Life and Work of 
St. Paul, p. 332, published by % I. K, Funk. (My 
italics.) 

How can any man, with Matt. 3 : 11, — saying nothing 



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151 



of the fact of the life which John's preaching de- 
manded and the teaching concerning the Holy Spirit, 
in the Old Testament, — before his eyes, declare that 
men claiming to be John's disciples, and who had not 
even "heard whether there be any Holy Ghost," were 
His genuine disciples? Hence Farrar truthfully says 
that " they knew little or nothing of the final phase of 
John' s teaching " 

Baumgarten: " Meyer is doubtless right in his con- 
jecture that the absence of some practice or other in 
these disciples, specifically befitting Christian faith, 
astonished Paul." " We can . . . easily conceive 
it to be possible that, in the case of some heathens, who 
had received the baptism of John at such a distance 
from its original scene, the element of reference to the 
coming of the Holy Ghost, which, at all events was 
contained in it, might easily have been allowed to fall 
into the background," — Apost. Hist., vol. 2, p. 266. 
(My italics.) 

Thus Baumgarten admits that it is not unlikely 
that these disciples had been baptized far from 
where John baptized; and, that, as John's disciples 
were well instructed concerning the Spirit, these dis- 
ciples, if they had ever heard of Him, had heard so 
little that it had made but little impression on their 
minds. 

Neander, concerning these disciples: " But as usual 
with the preparatory manifestations of the kingdom of 
God," — as much so now — " different effects were pro- 



152 



OEIGIN OF THE 



duced according to the different susceptibilities of his 
hearers. There were those of his disciples, who fol- 
lowing his directions, attained to a living faith in the Ke- 
deemer, and some of whom become apostles ; others only 
attained a very defective knowledge of the person and' 
doctrine of Christ ; others, again, not imbibing the spirit 
of their master, held fast their former prejudices " — 
just as men do now, making false professions — " and 
assumed a hostile attitude towards Christianity ; prob- 
ably the first germ of such opposition appeared at this 
time and from it was formed the sect of the disciples 
of John, which continued to exist in a later age. These 
disciples of John, whom Paul met at Ephesus, be- 
longed to the second of these classes" — Planting and 
Training of the Christian Church, p. 210. 

From Neander it is very certain that these were the 
disciples of John, which were anything than the repre- 
sentatives of the Spirit, the aim and the nature of his 
ministry. Neander adds : " Whether they had become 
the disciples of John in Palestine, and received bap- 
tism from him, or whether they had been won over to 
his doctrine by means of his disciples in other parta, 
(which would serve to prove that John's disciples aim- 
ing at forming a separate community which necessarily 
would assume a jealous and hostile position: towards 
Christianity in its rapid spread) at all events they . . . 
considered themselves justified in professing to be 
Christians, like others." — Idem, p. 210, 211. 

Bengel: They could not have folloived either Moses 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH. 



153 



or John the Baptist, without hearing of the Holy Spirit. 
. . . Therefore the baptism of John was most widely 
propagated, as well as his teaching ; but, as often hap- 
pens, in the case of those more remote and later in point 
of time, the ordinance was administered less purely or 
less fully- • . . Apollos, on the other hand, who had 
received the baptism of John, accompanied with full 
instructions concerning Jesus Christ, was not rebap- 
tized : Ch, 18:25. Nor were the Apostles rebaptized. 
For in reality the baptism which is mentioned in Matt. 
Hi. andxxviii. ivasone; otherwise there could not have 
been the beginning of the gospel in John (Mark 1:2,3,) 
and the Lord's Supper in Matt. 26 would be older than 
baptism . ' ' — In loco. 

Taking these men who were so far below, even the 
Old Testament teaching, as to have never heard' ' wheth- 
er there be any Holy Ghost," to represent John's 
ministry, is not a decent caricature upon his ministry; 
and it flatly contradicts all that the gospels record of 
his ministry. Hence, such testimony, as above, from 
learned, candid Pedo-baptists. John could no more 
have preached repentance and the new life without 
preaching the Holy Spirit, than the prophets, of the 
Old Testament, or the ministers of the New Testa- 
ment could have, or can do so. (4) John preached 
Jesus, (a) We know this because no one can 
preach genuine repentance and the new life without 
preaching the great Author of life. (b) John's 
consciousness, recorded in Matt. 3:3, of being the 



154 



ORIGIN OF THE 



forerunner of the Messiah, who was to live, to die,- to 
be raised for our justification, makes it certain that 
he preached Jesus. Verse 3, of Matt. 3, makes it 
certain that he knew himself to be the fore- 
runner of the Messiah ; and with such Scriptures 
as Isa. 9:6,7; 53d Chap.; Zech. 13:1; Isa. 4:3, he 
must have preached Him as the Savior, (c) The rec- 
ord of his preaching is that he preached Jesus, as the 
object of faith. "I indeed baptize you with water unto 
repentance ; but he that cometh after me is mightier 
than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear; he shall 
baptize you w T ith the Holy Ghost and with fire." Matt. 
3:12. " John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, 
Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin 
of the world ! f This is he of whom I said, after me 
cometh a man who is before me." — John 1 :29,30. 

On this Prof . Smeaton rightly says: "If then we 
put together" the meaning of this testimony of John 
to Christ, as our Savior, "they are these: (1) It was 
God's gracious appointment — 'the Lamb of God; 
(2) it essentially lay in the vicarious element in the 
transaction' — it was a bearing of the sin of others, or 
of the world ; (3) it was a bearing or a penal endu- 

t The Hebrew — nasa — (xfcO) rendered bear, in all these pass- 
ages, Ges.Lex. defines: "Spec, to take away the sin or guilt of 
any one, that is, to expiate, to make atonement for ... To 
take upon one's self and bear the punishment of sin." As a con- 
sequence of bearing the punishment of sin, it, also, Ges. says, 
means to carry away." In Jno. 1:29,30, it means to bear the 
punishment, and to bear away the sin, see its use in Gen. 4:13; 
Lev. 16:22; 17;16; 20:20; Isa. 53:54. 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH. 



155 



ranee; (4) it was sacrificial, being the truth of the 
shadows in the previous economy ; ( 5 ) it was without 
nationality." — Smeatonon the Atonement, vol. l,p.79. 
See Num. 14:34; Lev. 5:17; Num. 9:13; 18:22; 
Lev. 24:15.t Who, now, can preach Jesus better 
than did John? So Paul said that John preached, 
4 'that they should believe on him which should come 
after him; that is, on Christ Jesus." — Acts 19 : 4. 
Eead the whole of John 1 : 15-3 7 and answer whether 
if any man more fully now preaches J esus than did 
John. As Tholuck — in loco, states, John had been 
baptizing " for some time," when these words were 
uttered. And Tholuck calls attention to them as but 
the voice of his ministry. 

As to John having been discouraged — Matt. 11:3; 
Luke 7:18, 20 — and his having not known him — 
John 1:31 — we are not to infer from these things that 
he did not preach Jesus, etc., but that he did not know 
Him by natural sight, just as the best Christian now 
would not know Him. The form of the question: "Art 
thou he that should come or look we for another" 
— shows that John had knowledge of the Messiah. To 
preach Jesus implies neither that we know him by nat- 
ural sight, nor that we do not have times of depression. 

I w r ill close this part of the argument with a few more 
Pedo-baptist concessions, on John's ministry. 

Adam Clarke, on the kingdom of heaven, as preached 
by John: "The kingdom of heaven is righteousness 
and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. Now what 



156 



OBIGIN OF THE 



can there be more than this in glory ? . . . "The king- 
dom of heaven is at hand;" referring to the proph- 
ecy of Dan. 7:13, 14 where the reign of Christ among 
men is expressly foretold. This phrase and the king- 
dom of God mean the same thing, viz., the dispensa- 
tions of infinite mercy, and manifestation of eternal 
truth of Jesus Christ, producing the true knowledge of 
God, accompanied with that worship which is pure and 
holy, worthy of that God who is its institutor and ob- 
ject." — On Matt. 3:2. Then John's ministry was a 
gospel ministry. Scott, on "Kepentance," in Matt. 3 : 
"The word rendered repentance implies a total revolu- 
tion in the mind, a change in the judgment, disposi- 
tions and affections, another and better bias to the 
soul, Without it the people could neither understand 
the nature of the kingdom of heaven, welcome Christ, 
become his subjects, nor desire salvation." — Comp. 
Com. on Matt. 3 : "As John required repentance as a 
condition to his baptism as certain. 

Lightf oot : "John preached the gospel." — Comp. 
Com. 

Dodridge : "This very demand of repentance 
showed that it was a spiritual kingdom, and that no 
wicked man, how politic or brave, would possibly be 
a member of it" — Comp. Com. on Mtt 3. 

Matt. Henry: "John came preaching . . . for by 
the foolishness of preaching must Christ's kingdom be 
set up . . . His doctrine was repentance . . . This 
change of mind produces a change of the way" . . 



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' ' They confessed their sins to John," "a general con- 
fession," "but to God a confession of particular sins. 
. . . By baptism he obliged them to live a holy life, 
according to their profession." "He intimated the 
nature of Christ's kingdom." — Comp. Com. on Matt. 3. 

J. W. Dale : " The baptism of John was the one bap- 
tism %l swelling bud, the Holy Spirit and the Lamb of 
God within it, not yet unfolded . . . The baptism of 
Christianity is John's baptism unfolded, revealing the 
Lamb of God slain and the Holy Ghost sent." — Schaff- 
Herzog, JEncy., Art. Bap. (my italics). Dr. Dale 
uses some expressions which are too strong ; but his 
words concede that John's baptism and ministry were 
the one baptism and the one ministry. 

Stier, of the ministry of John and of Jesus : "The 
mission of the two preachings is ever this, through re- 
pentance into the kingdom of heaven ! But this inter- 
nal unity of the law and the gospel the world under- 
stands not, and therefore rejects both." " We cannot 
hesitate longer to include the Baptist's term in the new 
age." — Words of Jesus, Vol. 2, pp. 96, 85. (my 
italics). 

Geikie : " John proclaimed the great truth • . . 
that the kingdom was the reign of Jesus in the soul 
. . . Repentance with John was no mere formal con- 
fession, but a change of mind, a new life for the fu- 
ture ; and this he so prominently urged that even Jo- 
sephus, a generation afterwards, makes it a characteris- 
tic of his preaching . . . John sought to prepare a 



158 



ORIGIN OF THE 



people by a moral regeneration of the community . . . 
The kingdom of God with him was ... a kingdom of 
righteousness and holiness ... In all cases moral re- 
generation was the grand aim . . . He proclaimed . . 
the need of the Holy Spirit to perfect the inner revo- 
lution ... In the bestowal of this heavenly influ- 
ence, to carry out the new creation, begun by the for- 
giveness of sins was summed up John's message . . . 
He led them in groups into the Jordan, and 
immersed each singly in the waters, after an earnest 
and full confession of their sins." — Life of Christ, 
pp. 280, 282, 283— published by "Am. Book Ex- 
change." (my italics). Considering that the gospels 
give us but a very scanty record of John's ministry, the 
a evidence that it was the gospel ministry is most 
ample. 

As Bannerman says: "With regard to t\ie assump- 
tion that the baptism of John was really given to all 
applicants, without respect to religious character, there 
seems no evidence of it in Scripture, but the reverse. 
We seem to have as good evidence that John demanded 
a profession of a religious kind from those whom he 
baptized, as the character of the very brief and scanty 
narrative which has come down to us of the transac- 
tion would naturally lead us to expect." — Church of 
Christ, Vol. l.,p. 61. (my italics). 

John Calvin, the founder of the Presbyterian 
Church : "It is also certain that the ministry of John 
was precisely the same as that which was afterwards 



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159 



committed to the apostles. For their baptism was not 
different . . . But the sameness of their doctrine 
shows th<dr baptism to have been the same. John and 
the Apostles agreed in the same doctrine ; both bap- 
tized to repentance, both to remission of sins; both 
baptized in the name of Christ, from whom repentance 
and remission of sins proceed." — Calvin's Inst. Chr. 
lielig., Vol. 2, p. 481 — published by thePresb. Board 
of Pub., Phila. (my italics). "On the other hand," 
against the Eomish Church, "The Lutheran and Re- 
formed Confessions asserted the perfect identity of the 
two forms of baptism, principally on the ground that 
John had preached the fundamental truths of the gos- 
gel." — Schafl-Herzog Ency., Art. Bap. 

II. The New Testament dates the gospel, under the 
New Dispensation, from the beginning of John's minis- 
try. " The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, 
the Son of God; even as it is written in Isaiah, the 
prophet : Behold I send my messenger before thy 
face — 

Who shall prepare thy way ; 
The voice of one crying in the wilderness, 
Make ye ready the way of the Lord, 
Make His paths straight. 

John came, who baptized in the wilderness, and 
and preached the baptism of repentance unto remission 
of sins." — Mark 1 :l-4. Commenting on this, the fol- 
lowing Pedo-baptists say: " The beginning of the 
gospel applies to John the Baptist." 

Bengel, Matt. Henry: " The gospel did not begin 



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ORIGIN OF THE 



as soon as the baptism of Christ, but half a year before, 
when John began to preach the same gospel that Christ 
afterwards preached. ... In John's preaching and 
baptizing was the beginning of gospel doctrines and 
ordinances." 

Adam Clarke : 4 ' It is with the utmost propriety th^t 
Mark begins the gospel dispensation by the preaching 
of John the Baptist." Lightfoot : "John preached 
the gospel, Mark 1:1, 2 ; John 1 :7." (My italics in 
the above quotations.) 

Luke says John's mission was, " To give knowledge 
of salvation unto his people." "In the remis- 
sion of their sins." — Luke 1 :76-79. Of John's 
ministry: " The same came for witness, that he 
might bear witness of the light, that all might 
believe through Him." — John 1:7. On this, Adam 
Clarke : " He testified that Jesus was the true light — 
the true teacher of the way to the kingdom of glory, 
and the lamb or sacrifice of God which was to bear 
away the sin of the world, v. 29, and invited men to 
believe in Him for the remission of their sins, that 
they might receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost. 
This was bearing the most direct witness to the lio'ht 
which was now shining in the dark wilderness of Judea^ 
and from thence shortly to be diffused over the whole 
world." So when a successor to Judas is to be chosen 
it was said : k< Of the men, therefore, which have ac- 
companied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in 
and out among us, beginning from the baptism of 



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John."-Acts 1 : 21. f John prepared a people, by their 
conversion and baptism, out of which Jesus organized 
His Church and called His Apostles. How any one 
can need more evidence to prove that John's ministry 
was a gospel ministry, than is presented in its nature 
and in the New Testament dating it as the beginning 
of the gospel, I cannot conjecture. Should the reader 
desire more evidence he will see it in the proof that 
Jesus preached the gospel and that " the kingdom of 
heaven and the Church were set up before the day of 
Pentecost;" for as " John's ministry continued over, 
probably, a year and six months," it continued about 
one year after the ministry of Jesus began — one year 
contemporary with the ministry of Jesus. — Compare 
G. W. Clarke's Com. on Matt. 3*1 and his Har. 
p. 252. 

So that much of the evidence that the kingdom 
and the Church were in existence during the ministry 
of Jesus proves that John's was a gospel ministry, 
and a gospel baptism. Indeed, only the "Pharisees 
and the lawyers rejected" the ministry and the bap- 

t Humphrey, Kuinoel, Hackett: "Not from the close of the 
baptism of John since Jesus called the'Apostles earlier.'* — a 
loco. Here apo — from — (#tto) and meta, of time (fJieza), in 
Acts 10:37, are used; but, as Hackett remarks: "The difference 
of time not being important he reckons from the close of John's 
baptism.'' u The Savior performed some public acts but did not 
enter fully on his ministry till John had finished his preparatory 
ministry. The difference of time was so slight that it was suf- 
ficiently exact to make the beginning or the close of the fore- 
runner's, the starting point in that of Christ." On Acts 1:21: 
10;37. 



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OKIGIN OF THE 



tism of John as a gospel ministry and a gospel bap- 
tism.— Luke 7 :29,30. The gospel character of John's 
work cannot be repudiated without repudiating nearly 
the whole of the first year's ministry of Jesus, which 
was contemporary with that of John. 

III. 1. Jesus Christ preached the gospel, (a) Isa. 
61 : 1-3 is a prophecy of the preaching of the gospel 
by Jesus. Luke 4 : 16-21 says that he preached 4 'the 
gospel to the poor," as a fulfillment of Isa. 61 : 1-3 : 
"This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears." (6) 
The Sermon on the Mount is a gospel as well as a law 
sermon. If "blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs 
is the kingdom of heaven;" "blessed are they that 
mourn for they shall be comforted ;" "blessed are 
the meek for tljey shall inherit the earth;" "blessed 
are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness 
for they shall be filled," etc., I say, if this is not gos- 
pel preaching (the reader will remember that gospel 
is "good news,") there never was gospel preaching. 
It is a fulfillment of Isa. 61 :l-3. (2) "He taught 
the people in the temple and preached the gospel." 
Luke 20 :1. (3) Jesus said, "thy sins are forgiven." 
Matt. 9:3. (4) /'Daughter, thy faith hath made 
thee whole ; go in peace." — -Luke 8:48. (5) "Her 
sins which are many are forgiven; for she loved 
much." — Luke 7 :47. Who can preach a better gos- 
pel than Jesus preached to these poor creatures ? (6) 
"For God so loved the world that he gave his only 
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him, 



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should not perish, but have everlasting life," etc. 
John 3:16. Who, now, preaches more gospel than 
this? (7) What is the parable of the prodigal son, 
what are those memorable discourses, recorded in 
John 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th Chapters,but 
the gospel? Where is there a true Christian whose 
soul has not overflowed with the peace of God, 
through the gospel, in reading these chapters? The 
evidence that Jesus preached the gospel before Pen- 
tecost is in every word of Matt., Mark, Luke and John, 
and much of the Epistles. (8) Asks Paul: 6 6 How 
shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? 
which having at the first been spoken through the 
Lord," etc. Heb. 2:3. (9) Says Peter: "The word 
which he sent unto the children of Israel, preaching 
good tidings of peace by Jesus Christ (he is Lord 
of all) — that saying ye yourselves know, which was 
published throughout all Judea, beginning from Gal- 
ilee, after the baptism which John preached," etc. 
Acts 10 :37. This is, undeniably, called the gospel, 
and it was, undeniably, preached before the day of 
Pentecost. (10) "Repent ye and believe in the gos- 
pel." Mark 1 :15. "There is no man that hath left 
house or brethren, or sisters, or mother, or father, 
or children, or lands, for my sake and the gospels' 
sake." — Mark 10:29. "From that time began Jesus 
to preach \t\\e gospel^] and to say, repent ye, for the 
kingdom of heaven isfat hand." — Matt. 4 : 17. "He 
t The very preaching that John preached. — Matt. 3 :1. 



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OKIG1N OF THE 



departed thence to teach and to preach (Jceerussein — 
xrjpvoaetv in the New Testament always implies the 
gospel. See Matt. 3:1; 4:17,23; 9:35; 10:7,27; 
24:14; Mark 1:14, 38, 39; Acts 8:5 ; 9:20 ; 10 :47 ; 
19:13; 1 Cor. 1:23) and to teach in their cities." — 
Matt. 11: 1. (11) Euangelizo (eijayye?J^co) and 
euangelion (tzbayyehov ) occur twenty-three times 
in the Gospels, making twenty-three times the 
gospels say that the gospel was preached before 
the day of Pentecost. Keerussein (Kypuaasw^is used 
for the gospel, in the gospels, twenty-seven times, 
which with euangelizo and euangelion make fifty times 
that the Gospels say the gospel was preached before the 
day of Pentecost. (12) When Jesus speaks of the 
gospel, to be preached throughout the whole Christian 
age, He nowhere intimates that it would be a different 
gospel from the one that was preached by John, His 
disciples and Himself, before Pentecost, but He says, 
it would be the same gospel: "And this gospel of 
the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for 
a testimony to all nations ; and then shall the end 
come." — Matt. 24:14. The Greek, toutou to euan- 
gelion (toutou Vo euotYyifaov.) Toutou means " this," 
" this very thing, this same thing." — See all the Lexs. 
As a demonstrative it points out that the gospel, 
preached at the time in which He was speaking, was 
the one for all future. Hence, the marginal rendering 
to the Revised Version is, " these good tidings." Thus, 
in the very face of Matt., Mark, Luke, John, Acts, 



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Hebrews, etc., testifying that Jesus preached the gos- 
pel, the Campbellites preach by day and by night 
that the gospel was not preached before Pentecost." 

When pressed by the plain statements of Scripture, 
that the gospel was preached before Pentecost, the 
Campbellites try to evade it, by saying : " The gospel 
was not preached in fact before Pentecost." Where, 
in the New Testament, do they read of any other than 
a gospel of fact, as approved of God? Were John, 
Jesus, the Apostles preaching a gospel of fiction? If 
they say a gospel of type, where do they read of £uch 
a gospel ? The gospel was preached in type before the 
preaching of John, but it was the gospel in reality, as 
the saved, of Heb. 11, and in paradise, can testify. 
Such distinctions, as a gospel of fact and of type, are 
as erroneous as to say that a gospel in writing, a gospel 
verbally, a gospel in ordinances, in life, etc., is not the 
same gospel. As well say that Jesus in prophecy, 
Jesus in type, etc. is not the same Jesus which we 
have ; and thus make two Christs as well as two gos- 
pels. It is all the one gospel. So it is the same gos- 
pel for all ages. Hence Paul said, the 1 6 gospel " was 
"preached unto Abraham !" Of course, it is preached 
with more clearness under the New Dispensation than 
it was under the Old ; but that no more makes it a dif- 
ferent gospel than its being preached by one preacher, 
who preaches it more ably than did another, makes it a 
different gospel ; or that Jesus, because more clearly 
preached under the New than under the Old, is a dif- 



166 



ORIGIN OF THE 



ferent Jesus. And as to its not being a gospel until 
Jesus died and arose, to the one who believed that 
Jesus would save, before He died, there was as much 
gospel as to the one who believes since. The past age 
looked forward to the cross ; the future age looks 
backward to the cross. But as the cross for the past age 
is the precious cross, so it is for the future age. Hence, 
Jesus said : " Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my 
day ; and he saw it and was glad." — John 8 :56. With 
believers of the past age, believers of the present join 
around the cross, in one unbroken band ; saved by the 
same God, the same Savior, the same Spirit, in the 
same way — by the cross. If I am now liberated from 
a $1000 debt, by a kind friend promising to pay it 
20 years from to-day, it is as good news to me as 
though it were paid. Nothing short of uncertainty can 
leave me in trouble. So of the gospel. The age, 
before the cross, was saved because of the promised 
liquidation of our moral debt; the age since, because 
that debt has been paid. Nothing, short of unbelief in 
the good news, to either age, can leave it in trouble. 
Campbellism is, therefore, on this point, in contra- 
diction, not only to the clsar record of the Bible, but 
to common sense. 

Sec. 5. The kingdom and the Church were set up 
before the day of Pentecost. 

The reader is requested to turn to the first part of 
Chapter 9 , for the meaning of t 6 Church ' ' and ' ' king- 
dom of heaven." Whatever Scripture speaks of one 



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impliedly speaks of the other ; so that, when the exist- 
ence of the one is proved, the existence of the other is 
impliedly proved. 

I. The kingdom is said to have existed before the 
day of Pentecost. (1) The kingdom of heaven is at 
hand." — Matt. 3:2. Engike (rjyyas) or in Tisch- 
endorf's Editio Septima Critica Minor, (fjyyasv) is 
third person, singular, perfect indicative, of engizo 
(effete) 9 to draw near, to approach. The perfect is 
used " whenever the past is to be put in relation with 
the present ; that is when something past is intended 
to be represented as something just now (in the pres- 
ent) completed."— Winer's 1ST. T. Gr.,p. 270. The 
expression, therefore, means that, at that time, the 
kingdom of heaven was present ; equally excluding the 
Pedo-baptist notion, of its having been set up, in the 
Old Testament times, and the Campbellite, of its 
being three years — to the Day of Pentecost — distant. 
John used it with reference to the kingdom which 
Jesus set up, soon after His baptism. We shall, there- 
fore, expect to read of the kingdom as existing soon 
after the beginning of John's ministry. (i?) In Matt. 
5 :3,10, Jesus speaksof "the poor in spirit, "and "per- 
secuted," as possessing — "yours is the kingdom of 
heaven," not shall be— " the kingdom of heaven." 
(3) "The law and the prophets were until John: 
from that time the gospel of the kingdom of God is 
preached, and every man entereth violently into it." — 
Luke 16 :16. On this, Adam Clarke : " The law and 



168 



ORIGIN OF THE 



the prophets continued to be the sole teachers till John 
came, who first began to proclaim the glad tidings of 
the kingdom of God." Matt. Henry: " Since John, 
the kingdom of God is preached ; a New Testament 
dispensation. . . , Now that the gospel is preached." 
" they press with holy violence into the kingdom of 
God" — In loco. (My italics.) George Campbell: 
" The intention is manifestly to inform us . . . what 
the manner was in which all who entered obtained ad- 
mission ." — In loco. (My italics.) 

Stier : "That was also the glad tidings which John 
the Baptist announced (Luke 3:18, e'jrjys^c^ero) ; 
but it is the Lord who first preaches the Gospel of the 
kingdom, by proclaiming its actual existence."— Words 
of Jesus, Vol 1, p. 82. (my italics.) 

Tholuck: 4 4 As present the kingdom of God is 
spoken of in the following passages: Matt, 11:12; 
12:28; 16:19; Mark 12:34; Luke 16:16; 17:20,21." 
— Sermon on the Mount, p. 73. "If I by the Spirit 
of God cast out devils, then is the kingdom of God 
come upon you." — Matt. 12:28. 

Stier : "And now visibly come on the earth in their 
midst."— Words of Jesus, Vol. 2, p. 142. 

Geikie : "John alone taught them that the king- 
dom of God had already come." — Life of Christ, p. 
284, 264, so Tholuck, Schmid, Fritzsche, Bloomfield, 
et al. 

(5). "I will give unto thee the keys of the king- 
dom of heaven." — Matt. 16 : 19, All admit that Peter 



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had the keys before Pentecost, which proves that the 
kingdom existed before that time. Keys, without a 
door, without a house to lock, are like the case of 
the Arkansas cooper, who, in a very hard time, 
was asked to make a bung-hole for a barrel, and then, 
make the barrel for the bung-hole, after the applicant 
should be able to get the barrel made ! Campbellites 
have a bung hole before the barrel is made, that is, 
keys before there is any lock, door or kingdom ! 

Tholuck, rightly, says that: Matt. 16:19, teaches 
that the kingdom was present when the keys were 
given. 

(6.) "Thou art not far from the kingdom of God." 
Mark 12: 34, 

G. W. Clarke: "He stood at the very door . , . 
and needed but the moral disposition to be within it." 

A. Clarke : "So near the kingdom that he might 
easily have stepped in." — In L 

So, Tholuck : (7) "The kingdom of God is within 
you."— Luke 17:21. 

Alford , better ; "For behold the kingdom of God 
is among you." — entos humon (evroc ujucov) f 

Kype, indorsed by A. Clarke : "I proclaim it pub- 
licly and work those miracles which prove the kingdom 
of God is come." — A. Clarke, in loco. 

Bloomfield: "Is among you . . . On this inter- 

t Entos does not always mean within, but, sometimes "be- 
tween." — Liddell and Scotts' Lex. It certainly means "between," 
or among here, as this was said to the wicked Pharisees. 



170 



ORIGIN OF THE 



pretation, the best commentators are agreed, and adduce 
examples of this use of evroc . . . The kingdom of 
God has even commenced among you — i. e. in your 
own country and among your own people." — In loco. 

So Paulus, Fleck, Bornemann, DeWette, Dod- 
dridge, Beza, Eaphaelius, et al. 

Matt. Henry: 4 'You inquire when it" — the king- 
dom of God — " will come-, and are not aware that it is 
already begun to be set up in the midst of you . . . 
The gospel is preached, it is confirmed by miracles, it 
is embraced by multitudes, so that it is in your nation, 
though not in your hearts." — In loco. So Doddridge, 
Bloomfield, Tholuck, Olshausen, etc. 

(8) "But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, 
hypocrites ! because ye shut the kingdom of heaven 
against men ; for ye enter not in yourselves, neither 
suffer ye them that are entering in to enter." — Matt. 
23:13. A, Clarke: "The kingdom here means 
the gospel of Christ ; the Pharisees would not receive 
it themselves, and hindered the common people 
as far as they could." — In loco. Barnes: "Many 
men . • . about entering into the kingdom of 
heaven, i. e. the Church — but they prevented it." — 
In loco. 

Matt. Henry: "These Scribes and Pharisees were 
sworn enemies of the gospel of Christ, and conse- 
quently to the salvation of the souls of men ; they did 
all they could to keep people from believing in Christ, 
and so entering into His kingdom." — In loco. So 



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Bloomfield, Bengel, Rosenmuller, Olshausen, Dod- 
dridge, etc. 

(9) ' ' Jesus saith unto them, verily I say unto you, 
that the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom 
of God before you."— Matt. 21:31. Barnes: "Go 
into the kingdom of God. Become Christians, or 
more readily follow the Savior . . . Publicans and 
harlots heard him, and became righteous, but they did 
not," — In loco, Matt. Henry : " When they saw the 
publicans and harlots go before them into the kingdom 
of God, they did not afterwards repent and believe." 
— In loco. So Doddridge, Olshausen, et al. 

(10) " He that is but little in the kingdom of 
heaven is greater than he. And from the days of 
John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suf- 
fereth violence, and the men of violence take it by 
force, For all the prophets and the law prophesied 
until John.'*— Matt. 11:11-11. 

Bengel : "The New Testament commences at the 
beginning of Mark. This phrase, therefore, even until 
John, holds good of Scripture. . . . Even until, with- 
out change. Here was the boundary of prophecy and 
of the c 01d Testament dispensation, thenceforward is 
the fulfilling." — In loco. Barnes: " Since the kingdom 
of heaven, or the gospel, has been preached there has 
been a rush to it . , . multitudes had thronged around 
Him and John to hear the gospel." — In loco. Of 
John, Stier : " His days are already the introduction of 
a new period, and that he stands opposed to the 



172 



ORIGIN OF THE 



law and the prophets, being beyond their circle.'' 
Stier : 4 'Now, but also now first, is the kingdom of 
heaven come, present, and thrown open to the entrance 
of all. There are then two ranks : — All the 
prophets raised up by God, and John at the last im- 
mediately before and at the introduction of this king- 
dom; — but now also the disciples of Christ who are 
the first* within this kingdom . . . We cannot hesi- 
tate longer to include the Baptists' term in the new age." 
— Words of Jesus, Vol. 2, pp. 81, 83, 85. (Part of 
the italics mine). So Tholuck, et al. 

(11.) There are found all the elements of the king- 
dom, so related as to constitute the kingdom. A king- 
dom is composed, first, of a king; second, of subjects ; 
third, of laws; fourth, of territory. We have seen 
that, by John's preaching, a people were prepared for 
the kingdom; that they entered into it, that it belonged 
to them, etc. We have seen that they had the laws of 
right, as preached by John and by Jesus. They had 
the institutions and the laws of both baptism and the 
Supper. We have seen that they baptized only such 
as repented, confessed their sins and believed in Jesus. 
See the exposition of John's ministry in this chapter, 
for proof of this. The Supper was eaten in the king- 
dom, and given to ' ' eat and drink" < 6 there for all 
time." — Luke 22:29, 30. Apostles were appointed, 
had the gospel committed to them — all things given 
into their hands before Pentecost, (a) Before Pente- 
cost, Jesus showed Himself the King by performing the 



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acts that only the King could perform, viz. of calling 
apostles, giving to them the Supper, the baptism, the 
directions and the authority for all the future. — Matt. 
10:1-42; Luke 22:29, 30; Matt. 28:16-20. (b) 
Jesus declared, before Pentecost, that " all authority 
hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth." 
— Matt. 28:18. Exousia (esoucraca) in its 95 occur- 
rences in the New Testament means the authority and 
the power to enforce its authority ; so of its verb 
exousiazo (^e^ouacd^co^ See all the Lexicons. (c) 
Rightly do the Commentaries say that Jesus, in Matt. 
12 :28, appealed to this authority as proof that His 
kingdom had come, since it implied the authority be- 
longing to the King in Zion. As to the territory, 
the world is the territory of the kingdom of heaven. 
Here it was set up, here it is on its onward march to 
universal and ultimate conquest. — Dan. 2:44, 45. 

The Campbellites say that Jesus was not king until 
His ascension, (a) If this is so, Jesus misrepresented 
the truth, when He said that " all authority in heaven 
and on earth " was then in His hands, (b) If this is 
so, Jesus forgave sins, commissioned His apostles, gave 
to the Church its laws and ordinances when He was 
not King, and when He had no authority to do so. (c) 
If this is so, He commanded them to ' ' wait " at 
"Jerusalem" when He was not yet exalted to the 
ruling throne, (d) If this is so, the whole foundation 
of the Church was laid before He had authority to lay 
it. (e) The poor heathen knew better than the Camp- 



174 



ORIGIN OF THE 



bellites know ; for they asked: " Where is He that is 
born King."— Matt. 2:2. (f) The multitude knew 
better than the Campbellites, for they praised God, 
saying, 4 6 Blessed is the King." — Luke 19:38. 

(g) The accusers of Jesus knew better than the 
Campbellites, for they arrested Hini for claiming that 
He was King. Compare Luke 23:1-4: John 19 :21. 

(h) When before Pilate, Jesus declared Himself King. 
—Luke 23:3; John 19 :21. On the cross, God hon- 
ored Him, by directing Pilate to write : " Jesus of Naza- 
reth, the King of the Jews."— John 19:19. Only 
His enemies denied that He was King, and only some 
of them — but they could not deny that He claimed to 
be King. — John 19 :21, Even devils owned Him Bang. 
— Matt. 8:29. But the Campbellites deny that He 
was King before His ascension. They leave Him be- 
fore His ascension, as a usurper, and as out of His 
own kingdom ! ! 

Says Stier: The Son of God, a born king." — Words 
of Jesus, Vol. 4, p. 323. "Thus He begins, thus He 
continues, in royal style and tone ; thus does He avow 
Himself to be a King who already has a kingdom, who 
inalienably retains it, and will more and more reveal 
and impress his power." — On Matt. 27:11. — Idem, 
Vol. 7, p. 351. 

Sec. 6. — The time when the kingdom and the Church 
were set up. 

1. About 1720 years before the kingdom and the 
Church were organized, the dying Jacob phophesied : 



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"The sceptre shall not depart from Judah nor the ru- 
ler's staff from between his feet, until Shiloh come; 
and unto him shall the obedience of the peoples be." 
Gen. 49:10.f 

Adam Clarke : "The duration of the power of this 
famous tribe is next determined ; 6 the sceptre of do- 
minion ; as it is understood, Esth. 8 :4 ; Isa. 14:5, etc., or 
its civil government was not to depart from Judah until 
the birth or coming of Shiloh . . . nor was the native 
law-giver, an expounder of the law, teacher, a scribe, 
intimating the ecclesiastical polity, to cease until Shiloh 
should have a congregation of people, or religious fol- 
lowers attached to him. And how accurately was this 
fulfilled in both respects ! Shortly before the birth of 
Christ, a decree was issued by Augustus Caesar that all 
the land of Judea and Galilee should be enrolled, or a 
registry of persons taken, in which Christ was included, 

fHengstenberg, Kabbi Woughe, in his translation of Gen. rec- 
ommended by the Grand Rabbins, of France, — the late Dr. E. S. 
Abbott, render it Shiloh, as meaning the Messiah, Rabbi C. F. 
Frey, Auth. of Heb. Gram., Heb. Die, Scripture Types, agrees with 
the rendering, and says : 44 It is true the learned both among the 
Jews and the Christians differ about the derivation and signifi- 
cation of yet each of them agrees well with the Messiah. 1 ' 
Kimchi, it signifies Judah's son, and Frey well asks : " Now, 
what son of Judah can it be but that famous and renowned son 
of his called Nagid, the Prince Messiah, who was to spring from 
this tribe and from the family of David, Isa. 55 ;4. Frey quotes 
also the great Rabbins, Yarki, Onkelos, Abendani, both of the 
Targums, to the same effect. Conant: ' -That this refers to the 
Messiah was held by the oldest Jewish interpreters, and there is 
no sufficient ground for dissenting from their opinion." — Ges. 
concedes; "Most understand by it the Messiah; who is called 
W\?Vn\P prince of peace. — Isa. 9:5; though they differ in 
explaining the single words." — See Conants' Gen.; Mess, of Jesus 
by Frey; Smith's Bib. Die, Ges. Lex. 



176 



ORIGIN OF THE 



Luke 2 :l-7; whence Julian, the Apostate, unwittingly 
objected to his title of Christ or King, that he was born 
a subject of Caesar." (about as good an objection to 
his then being king as that of the Cainpbellites. ) 
"About eleven years after Judea was made a Roman 
province, attached to Syria on the deposal and banish- 
ment of Archelaus, the son of Herod the Great, for 
maladministration . . . henceforth Judea was gov- 
erned by a Roman deputy, and the judicial power of 
life and death taken away from the Jews — John 18 : 31. 

Their ecclesiastical polity ceased with the destruction 
of their city and temple by the Romans, A. D. 70." — 
in loco. 

Keith, of about the time of the birth of Christ: " A 
king then reigned over the Jews in their own land, 
they were governed by their own laws and the council 
of their nation exercised its authority and power. Be- 
fore that period the other tribes were extinct, or dis- 
persed among the nations. Judah alone remained, and 
the last sceptre in Israel had not then departed from it 
. . . During the twelfth year of 'the age of Christ,' 
Archelaus, the king, was dethroned and banished. Ca- 
ponius was appointed procurator, and the kingdom of 
Judea, the last remnant of the greatness of Israel, was 
debased into a part of the province of Syria. The 
sceptre was smitten from the hand of the tribe of Ju- 
dah." — Keith' s Ev. of Proph., p. 28 : Gen. by Con- 
ant , p. 201 , Grotius, et mul. aZ.f 

t Because some professed Christians, through anxiety to seem 



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2. After prophesying the passing away of the Baby- 
lonian, the Medo-Persian, the Grecian and the Eoman 
kingdoms, Dan. said : "And in the days of -those kings 
shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall 
never be destroyed," etc. — Dan. 2 : 44. In the days 
of the four kingdoms just spoken of, — Dan. 7 : 17— the 
kingdom of heaven was to be set up. — A . Clarke, in loco. 
That this prophecy was to be fulfilled in the days of the 
Caesars is a conceded fact. The St. Louis Chr.Adv., 
of April 11 , 1877, said: " This view is in harmony 
with the teachings of the best expositors to whose 
works we have had access. We remember only two or 
three exceptions. A priest, of the order of Jesuits, 
published near the beginning of the present century 
. . . and one or two others, of some note " have 
given a different interpretation to this. " But the 
great mass of writers, Catholic and Protestant, early 
and late, have accepted this, nor clo we see how they 
could have done otherwise." At what time, in the 
first century, was this kingdom setup? (1) Luke tells 
us that the first proclamation of His kingdom was made 
in the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar, by a commis- 
sioned officer of the King — John the Baptist. "—Luke 3 : 
22. (2) Mark informs us that this proclamation was "the 
beginning of the gospel " dispensation. — Mark 1:1-3. 
(3) Matthew says that John, in that proclamation, 
proclaimed that "the long expected kingdom was at 

more than "free from prejudice," have joined infidels vs., this 
prophecy, I have treated it at this length. 



178 



ORIGIN OF THE 



hand" — then present. See, especially, beginning of 
"4," in this Chapter. (4) Mai. 3:1 says, referring 
to this officer: 6 ' Behold I will send my messenger, 
and he shall prepare the way before me, and the Lord 
whom ye seek shall come suddenly to His temple. ' ' See 
A. Clarke, in loco. Pithom, ( DIKna ) rendered sud- 
denly, indicates the setting up of the kingdom immedi- 
ately after the beginning of John's ministry. (5) To 
the same point, Isaiah : " The voice of him that crieth in 
the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make 
straight in the desert a highway for our God." Isa. 
40:3, quoted by the officer, in Matt. 3 :3. (6) As A. 
Clarke comments : " The idea is taken from the prac- 
tice of eastern monarchs, who, whenever they entered 
upon an expedition, or took a journey, especially 
through desert and unpracticed countries, sent harbin- 
gers before them to prepare all things for their passes, 
to level the ways and to remove all impediments." 
In loco. The harbingers did not go before and prepare 
the way years before the King was ready to enter, or 
entered upon his march; but the king immediately 
came after the harbinger. Hence John did not say 
' 'repent" for the kingdom of heaven will come about 
three years from now, but ' 'repent for the kingdom 
of heaven is at hand 99 — has approached and only wait- 
ing for a regenerate people to be organized into the 
kingdom. John prepared the way for the great King 
of Zion, " by a moral regeneration of the community." 
— GeiJcie's Life of Christ, p. 281. See Section 4, of 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH. 



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this Chapter. When the way was prepared, or a 
people prepared to be organized into the kingdom and 
the Church, nothing was in the way of the King's 
coming. 

2. As a matter of history, we find the kingdom in 
existence very early in the ministry of Jesus, and 
about one year before John closed his ministry. (Ij. 
We have seen there were the subjects — regenerate peo- 
ple. (2). That they were baptized with Christian 
baptism. ( 3 ) . That they preached, baptized, received 
the Supper, had the government of the Church aud all 
things concerning the great commission— of Matt. 28 : 
16-20 — committed to them before the day of Pente- 
cost. (4). That Jesus was regarded, by both friends 
and enemies and by Himself, as their King before the 
day of Pentecost. (5). That there was the territory 
— the world — before the day of Pentecost. 

Thus, the disciples, in obedience to the voice, 6 6 hear 
ye him," as my Son and King, whose right it is to be 
heard. — Matt. 17 : 5, — the people whom John had pre- 
pared were serving Him in His Kingdom. We find, 
even, such particulars in operation concerning the 
kingdom and the Church, as the laws of Church 
discipline, for private difficulties. — Kead Matt. 18 : 
15-20. 

OBJECTION. 

Before proceeding farther, an objection, from Matt. 
16:18, had as well be answered. The Campbellite ob- 
jects that Jesus said; "I will" — n the future — 



180 



ORIGIN OF THE 



"build my Church." In reply, 1st, to make this 
mean build, in the sense of found or organize a 
Church, would make it contradict the overwhelming 
testimony, that it and the kingdom were in existence 
when these w r ords were spoken. 2nd. Were it ad- 
mitted that "will build" means to found and organize 
a Church, it would not, therefrom, follow that this 
would not be done before the day of Pentecost. For 
about October, following the June, when this was 
spoken, we find the Church in existence, with govern- 
ment for settling private difficulties. Compare G. W. 
Clarke's Har. pp. 271, 272, 273. Thus, we can 
admit that it means to found the Church, and then it 
affords the Campbellite position, that the Church was 
organized on the day of Pentecost, neither favor nor 
phy. 3d. But it is to be understood in the sense of 
adding to and establishing. Oihodomeso (or/ooofxrjaa)) 
rendered " I will build;" is first person, singular, fu- 
ture indicative, active voice, of oiJcodomeo (or/odofxeco) 
Defining it in the sense of build from the foundation, 
the following Lexicons also define it — Bagster's : "To 
embellish, and amplify a building . . . establish . . . 
to make spiritual advancement, to be edified." 
Greenfield's: "To build up . . . establish, Matt, 16-18 
. . . to add to, augment, cause to increase." Robin- 
son's: "To build up, to establish, to confirm, spoken 
of the Christian Church and its members, who are 
thus compared to a building, a temple of God, erected 
upon the only foundation, Jesus Christ, and ever built 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH. 



181 



up progressively and unceasingly, more and more upon 
the foundation." Liddell and Scotts' : "To edify." 
The word occurs 38 times in the New Testament; and 
in Acts 9:31; 1 Cor. 8:1, 10; 10 :23 ; 14:4, 17 ; 
1 Tkess. 5:11 undoubtedly means to add to what is in 
existence. Oikodomee (oaooouij) which occurs 18 
times in the New Testament for 6 'building," is often 
used to strengthen or increase what is built up, See 
Eom. 14:19; 15 :2; 1 Cor. 14 : 3, 5, 12, 26 ; 2 Cor. 
10:8; 12:19; 13:10; Eph. 4:12, 16, 29. So Green- 
field's Lex. interprets "will build." Matt, Henry: 
"The Church in this world is but in the forming." — 
in I. 

Stier : "Opposed to this building, at this time still 
lying in the future, which the promised (oaodouijaco) 
(oikodomeeso) from the founding to the finishing is 
ever being fulfilled (for until the descent of the key- 
stone from heaven, chap. 21:4) the building is not fin- 
ished, Eph. 2:21, 22 ; 1 Pet. 2 : 5— opposed to it the 
prophetic glance of Christ sees fierce assaults against it 
and conflict with it, and the house or kingdom, " 
etc. Words of Jesus, Vol 2. p. 321. I think, when 
these exegetes interpret build, to be a promise of 
Christ to edify, increase, add to His Church — existing 
when He spoke — during all the New Dispensation, they 
are right. 

Having answered the objection : — 

3. There are stronger reasons for believing that the 
Church and the kingdom were organized, immediately 



182 



ORIGIN OF THE 



after the temptation — Matt. 4th — -and at Bethany or 
Bethabara — than for believing that it was organized at 
any other time. These reasons are : (1 ) As John had 
prepared the way for the King, by preparing a people, 
we would, naturally, expect Him to organize His king- 
dom at the beginning of His ministry. (2). In John 
1:35-51, we read of what looks very much like Jesus 
gathering around Him His Church. (See Robinson's 
Greek and Clarks' English Harmonies.) EhMesia 
( exxArjaca ), means called out — that is, God's 
Church is called out from others. In Matt. 18 :20, 
Jesus speaking of the Church, said: " Where two or 
three are gathered together [it is not the middle voice 
— gathered themselves together ; but it is the perfect 
passive participle — (duvrj/jtivoc) in my name, there 
am I in the midst of them." See Eph. 1:18-23; 
where God fills His Church. 6 ' Those three already 
formed the Christian Church."— Dr. Smith's R. T. 
Hist., p. 208. W. W. Gardner, D. D. : "And here 
and now in some rude hut on the banks of the Jordan, 
was Christ's first and model Church constituted, of 
these three pious fishermen, A. D. 30." Missiles of Truth 
p, 213. From this time, onward, Jesus, with His disci- 
ples attended the marriage, at Cana, in Galilee — John 
2:1-11 — ; next, visits Capernaum; — John 2:12 — 
next, attends the passover and drives the traders from 
the temple. — John 2 :13-35; next, is visited by Nico- 
demus — John 3:1-21; next, leaves Jerusalem, re- 
mains in Judea, exercising his ministry and making 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH. 



183 



disciples — John 3 : 2 2—24 — next, departs into Galilee — 
Matt. 4:12 ; Mark 1 :14; Luke 4 :14; John 4 :l-4 ; on 
his arrival there enters upon His public ministry — 
Matt. 4 :17 ; Mark 1 :14,15; Luke 4:14, 15 ; John 4: 
43-46 — See the Harmonies of Eobinson and G. W. 
Clarke. Bishop Pearce thinks this arrival in Galileef 
Avas about one year after His baptism. We' are not to 
understand that Jesus* 'had not been preaching, since 
organizing His Church ; but, that, hitherto, His preach- 
ing had not been so public and constant as now." — 
Matt. Henry, on Matt. 4:17. In these disciples (a) 
accompanying Him in His ministry, from the first, (b) 
in their baptizing — John 4:1 — 3. — we have farther 
confirmation that they constituted the Church and the 
kingdom, at its beginning. How many other disciples 
had united with the new Church the record does not 
inform us; but, probably several others. Speaking of 
John 1:45, 4fi, Tholuck says: " Philip who had 
now attached himself to the little society." "This 
first gathering ." (My italics.) John Calvin speaks of 
verse 51, as designating; "somethino; permanent in his 
kingdom — quod semper extare debebat in ejus, regno 
. . . For the kingdom of God . . . has been in 
Christ truli/ opened-regnum Dei, vere in Christo fuit" 
in Tholuck, on John 1-52. 

Eeuss : "The kingdom of God which Jesus wished 
to realize began with his personal appearance on the 

fThis was His second visit to Galilee after His baptism. — John 
2:1. 



184 



ORIGIN OF THE 



world's theatre; his advent, and the advent of the 
kingdom are one and the same thing." — Hist, de la 
Theol. Chr. 1. 190-— quoted by Dr. Hovey,in Smith's 
Bib. Die, vol. 2, p. 1442. 

Stier, speaking of the period when Jesus began His 
more active ministry in Galilee. — Matt. 4:23 — says: 
* 6 The Lord first preaches the Gospel of the kingdom 
by proclaiming its actual existence.*' — Words of Jesus , 
vol. i, p. 48. But, if it was not organized, at the 
time, mentioned in John 1 : 35-51, when was it organ- 
ized ? On the next page Stier remarks : • 6 Now begins 
the last speaking of God by His Son (Heb. 1 :2) the 
Gospel, which henceforth is to be preached in all 
the world till the end cometh." — Matt. 24 :14. 

That there is no other period that has as probable a 
date for the setting up of the kingdom, as the one first 
pointed out, I am fully satisfied. With not near the 
certainty can the time and the> place of the giving of 
the Sermon on the Mount, f or the time of the birth of 
Christ be established. I make this statement, because, 
with their usual candor (?) and logic (?) Campbell ites 
are prone to infer that the kingdom and the Church 
were set up on the day of Pentecost, simply because it 
is not possible to demonstrate, beyond cavil, the very 

t Thus, Pearson and Hug, place the birth of Christ B.C. 1; 
Scaliger, B. C. 2: Baronius, Calvisius and Paulus, B. C, 3; Lamy, 
Bengel, Anger, Wieseler and Greswell, B. C. 4; Usher and Pe- 
tavius, B. C. 5; and Ideler and Sanclemente. B. C. 7. Greswell, 
G. W. Clarke, Alexander, Whitby, Doddridge, et ol. say that the 
Sermon on the Mount is not that of Luke 6 : on the other hand, 
Tholuek, Kobinson and the majority of the best and ablest har- 
monists say the two discourses are identical. 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH. 



185 



day that they were set up ! As well claim that the 
birth of Christ and the Sermon on the Mount are to be 
dated on the day of Pentecost, simply because their 
exact time cannot be proved beyond controversy ! 
That some Campbellite has never claimed Christ 
was born on the day of Pentecost, and that He 
then delivered the Sermon on the Mount is rather 
strange. 

It is well to here remark that the kingdom and 
the Church, at the beginning were not complete or 
fully developed. Thus, the apostles (a) were not 
made apostles until some time after the founding of 
the kingdom and the Church.— Matt. 10 :1. (b) The 
Supper was not instituted and given to the Church 
until just before His crucifixion, (c) The institution 
of the deaconship took place after the day of Pente- 
cost, (d) The calling of the thirteenth apostlef did 
not take place until about one year after the day of 
Pentecost. (See, farther on, in this Chapter, on the 
growth of the Church and kingdom.) Of course, these 

f Some have denied that Matthias was an apostle, claiming that 
the action, recorded in Acts 1 :23-26 was premature and un- 
authorized. But, (1) the record says that the Church attributed 
his call to God, " whom tlxou hast chosen. — Acts 2 :34. (2) Had 
the action bep.n a mistake, it would have been corrected when the 
outpouring of the Spirit took place. The correction of so great 
an error would not, probably, have been left unrecorded. 
(3) Verse 26 tells us that he " was [numbered oovxaTSiprjcptGdr] 
Hesychius, Bagster, Robinson, Liddell and Scott and Hackett 
agree means to reckon, — that is, afterward reckoned] with 
the eleven apostles." (4) Early tradition would not have 
it, had he not been an apostle, that he preached the gos- 
pel and suffered martyrdom in Ethiopia or Cappadocia; 
nor could there have been an Apocryphal gospel under 



186 



ORIGIN OF THE 



additions to the kingdom and the Church, no more 
prove that, before they were added, the Church and 
the kingdom did not exist, than did additions to the 
Armenian Government prove it non-existent until they 
were added. The additions prove the previous exist- 
ence of the kingdom and the Church, as you cannot 
add to or complete what has no existence. Thus, the 
notion that there was no Church before the day of 
Pentecost, involves the absurdity of baptism and the 
Supper being given to initiate into, and feed when in 
there, members into the Church, before there was a 
Church. 

4. Church meetings, Church officers, Church govern- 
ment, Church ordinances before the day of Pentecost. 

From the time of the organization of His Church, 
Jesus took His disciples with Him, to train them, etc., 
during about the first year of His ministry. No 
doubt that, during this time, He taught them much 
concerning the nature and the laws of His kingdom. 
A little over one year after the institution of the 
kingdom and the Church, not long after Jesus went, 

his name or ''Traditions of Matthias." These early traditions, etc., 
can be accounted for only upon the supposition that Matthias 
was universally recognized, in the early Church, as an apostle. 
(5) A. Clarke, DeWette, Matt. Henry, Baumgarten, Guericke. all 
writers, I believe, of great ability and research, recognize Mat- 
thias as an apostle. (6) As to the objection,f rom only 12 being 
mentioned in Eev. 21 :14, as Guericke remarks, only 12 are there- 
in mentioned, to correspond to the 12 thrones mentioned in Matt. 
19 :28 : Luke 22 :30. Paul was not chosen in the place of Judas, 
or as one of the original apostles, but as the one, 4 born out of due 
time.' — 1 Cor. 15:8 — and, especially, and pre-eminently, as the 
" apostle to the Gentiles." — Rom. 11 :13. 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH 



187 



the second time, into Galilee, and as soon as they were 
prepared to receive it, He gave to His Church its grand 
Magna Charta, for all time — the Sermon on the 
Mount, in Matt, the 5th, 6th and 7th chapters. 

Matt. 5:1 — " And seeing the multitudes, he went 
up into the mountain :" (1) We have seen that about 
one year before this sermon was given, the Church was 
organized. (2) Matt. 4 :23, 24 is conclusive evidence 
that the Church is now in existence ; for Jesus cast out 
demons, and Luke tells us that Jesus said : " If I by 
the finger of God cast out devils then is " — already 
here — " the kingdom of God come upon you." — Luke 
11 :21. (3.) Verse one implies that the disciples were 
the Church. Alf ord : "The disciples in the wider 
sense, including those of the Apostles already called, 
and all who had, either for a longer or a shorter time, 
attached themselves to Him as hearers. . . . The dis- 
course was spoken directly to the disciples," etc. 
(My italics.) (4) They are called the Church—" the 
light of the world/' — Matt. 5 :14. Notice : — not lights 
of the world, as it would be, had they been spoken to 
as isolated, individually or unorganized; but light, that 
is, one light. They are the light, because, as the 
Church, they reflect " the true Light which lighteth 
every man that cometh into the world." — John 1 :9. 
The Churches are "the . . . golden candlesticks." — 
Eev. 1:20. As a candlestick is put " on the stand." 
— Matt. 5 :15 — so is the Church set before the world, 
v. 16. (5) They are called a " city." Webster de- 



188 



ORIGIN OF THE 



fines a " city :" " The citizens united in a community . 
... A corporate town, governed by a mayor and 
alderman." (My italics.) The word rendered city — 
polis — (7ro/^c.) Liddell and Scott's Lex: — "The 
state ... a free state, a republic . . . state affairs, 
government , . . a state or commonwealth as such, a 
town, a village." Politees (ttoXct^) citizen, politeuo, 
(TTohreuco^ to be a citizen, politeuma (TroAczeujua) the ad- 
ministration of a commonwealth, a community, com- 
monwealth, politeia (Troforica) are of the same family 
as polis, here rendered city. They, clearly, mean an 
organization, community. They can never mean a 
mob, or an unorganized number of individuals. The 
multitudes, of v. 1, could not have been called any 
kind of a city. As a city, a citizen, etc. can mean only 
organization Jesus designated His disciples, the 
kingdom, the Church. (6) Hence, in verse 3, He told 
them, that as citizens, they owned the kingdom ; and, 
in v. 9, He told them, that as citizens, composing the 
kingdom, the hatred to it would fall upon them. (7) 
Tholuck well says: "Now Christ, in full conscious- 
ness of His Messiahship, declares that the kingdom of 
God, which men expected should come with Him, was 
really present. — Ser. on the Mount, p. 73. 

The Sermon on the Mount was so appropriate to 
only the Church and the kingdom that Tholuck ob- 
serves: "The object of our Lord," in that sermon, 
" w T as to exhibit Himself as the Fulfiller of the law, 
and to enunciate the Magna Charta of the new king- 



CAMPBELL1TE CHURCH. 



189 



domf — Idem, p. 14. Alford ; " The Divine Prophet 
opens His mouth in set discourse, and gives forth the 
charter law of His Kingdom of Heaven." — How to 
Study the New Test., vol l,p. 59. On Matt. 6 :33, 
Stier remarks : He ' 6 assures us of the descent of 
heaven to earth in that kingdom, which is already 
come, and is open to violent entrance." — Words of 
Jesus, vol. 1, p. 264. On pp. 316, 318, Stier calls the 
Sermon on the Mount, " the sermon for the Church," 
44 the sermon to the Church," as distinguished from 
" the mass of the people," called the multitudes. Tho- 
luck says : "This has been acknowledged in recent times 
as the purpose of the Sermon on the Mount by men of 
all parties, — by Neander and by Baur, by Delitzsch 
and Meyer, by Ebrard, and by Koestlin and Ewald." 
— Ser. on the Mount, p. 15. Tholuck divides Matt. 
5 :3-16 into " Conditions of membership in the king- 
dom." — p. 17. f So clenrly does the Sermon on the 
Mount speak of the kingdom and the Church, as exist- 
ing, when it was spoken, that some great scholars, 
overlooking the force of John 1 : 35-51, the probability 
of the kingdom and the Church beginning with the 
ministry of Jesus, and the gospel history, from John 
1 :34-51, to Matt. 5, have concluded that the Church 
was instituted at the calling of the disciples out from 
the mulitude, to deliver to them their Magna Charta. 
Thus T. D. Woolsey, D. D., ex-President of Yale 

f These great scholars had not learned to sit at the feet of A. 
Campbell, instead of at the feet of Jesus. 



190 



ORIGIN OF THE 



College, says: " The night, it would appear, was 
spent in prayer. The ensuing morning He organized 
His Church, by appointing the twelve apostles, and 
perhaps delivered the Sermon on the Mount during 
the same day." — Religion of the Present and of 
the Future, p. 42. 

Geike : " The choice of the twelve apostles and the 
Sermon on the Mount makes a turning point in the 
public life of Jesus. A crisis in the development of 
His work had arrived. He had, till now, taken no 
steps towards a formal and open separation from 
Judaism, but had contented Himself with gathering 
converts, whom He left to follow the new life He 
taught, without any organization or a distinct commun- 
ion. . . . The choice of the twelve and the Sermon 
on the Mount were the final and distinct proclamation 
of His new position. The apostles must have seemed, 
to a Jew, the twelve patriarchs of a new spiritual Israel, 
to be substituted for the Old, the heads of the new 
tribes to be gathered by their teaching, as the future 
people of God. The old skins had proved unfit for 
the new wine ; henceforth new skins must be provided : 
new forms for a new faith. The society thus organ- 
ized needed a promulgation of the laws under which it 
was to live, and this it received in the Sermon on the 
Mount." This new Church and kingdom Geike calls 
" the Christian republic in the relation of its citizens 
to each other, a kingdom in their relations to Jesus." 
— Life of Christ, pp, 418, 419. 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH. 



191 



On p. 523: — "The very foundation of the new 
society was in itself a breaking away from the estab- 
lished theocracy." On p. 527 : "The new kingdom 
was in the heart ; in the loving sonship of the Father 
in heaven and all outward observances had value 
only as expressions of their tender relationship.' 5 
These eloquent words, nearly all, well apply to the 
time I have pointed out, when the Church was institu- 
ted. 

Sec. III. Church Meetings. This calling aside 
the Church, and giving them their Magna Charta, is 
the(l) first recorded Church meeting of the little 
band, f Just before this meeting Jesus spent the 
night in prayer and called His twelve Apostles. In 
the meeting He ordained them, gave them their com- 
mission and charge, and sent them into their works. — 
Robinson's Greek Harmony; Matt. 10:2-4; Mark 
3:13-19; Luke 6:12-19. As the Church was now 
prepared to receive its Magna Charta, "The choice 
of the twelve, by our Lord, as His ministers and 
witnesses, furnished an appropriate occasion for 
this public declaration, respecting the spiritual nature 
cr His kingdom and the life and character required of 

fA Church meeting is a meeting of the members of ihe Church, 
for either worship, instruction only, or for "business, or for 
both together. Some of the best Churches never have "separate 
business meetings," but transact their business in the prayer 
meetings An excellent plan. The Church meetings, in the gos- 
r,els, combined preaching, prayer, business 



192 



ORIGIN OF THE 



those who would become His true followers." — Robin- 
son's Greek Har, p. 192. 

Dr. Smith: " In this assembly on the shores of the 
lake of Galilee we see at length all the elements of a 
visible Church of Christ separated from the world ; 
and now He proceeds to provide the teachers who were 
to guide them and the doctrines which they were to 
teach and the people to receive." — JSF. T. Hist., pp. 
255, 256. 

This was the next year after the Church was insti- 
tuted. The (2) next especially important meeting,which 
is on record, is recorded in Matt. 9:35-38; 10 :1 :l-5 ; 
11 :1 ; Mark 6 :6-13 ; Luke 9:1-6. — Robinson's Greek 
IJar.,p 64. This was His "third circuit in Galilee." 
This was some time- — perhaps a year — after the twelve 
w T ere made apostles. — Robinson's and Clark's Har- 
monies. At this meeting, Jesus gave the apostles 
power over demons, diseases and commissioned them to 
preach the gospel, and sent them forth without His 
company. 

The (3) next Church meeting recorded occurred 
when the twelve returned and reported to Him. — 
Mark (5 : 30-44 ; Matt. 14 : 13-21; Luke 9 :10-17 ; John 
6 :1-14. Doubtless a very important meeting. The 
(4) next recorded Church meeting is on the occasion 
when Christ gave them the especial sermon, to guard 
them against the influence of the Pharisees. — Matt. 16 : 
4-12; Mark 8 :13-21. The (5) next recorded meeting 
was when they especially professed their clear insight 



CAMPBELLTE CHURCH. 



193 



into the character of the Kedeemer ; and, when He 
told them that the gates of hades should not prevail 
against the new kingdom and the new Church. — Matt. 
16 :13-20 ; Mark 8 :27-30 ; Luke 9 :18-21. One of the 
most important meetings in the history of the Church. 
This is the first time it is recorded that the little band 
had the term, ekhlesia (exxtyaia) Church, applied to 
them. The (6) next Church meeting was for teaching 
them the great principles of self-denial, the worth of 
the soul, His coming in glory and the increased power 
of the kingdom.— Matt. 16 :21-28 ; Mark 8 :31 ; 9 :1 ; 
Luke 9:22-27. The (7) next Church meeting was 
immediately following the previous one, called to 
especially reveal to them His death and resurrection. — 
Matt. 7:13; Mark 9:2-13; Luke 9:28-36. At this 
meeting of the disciples were Peter, James and John ; 
of the unseen world were present " Moses and Elias." 
Only Peter, James and John were there, because they 
only were sufficiently spiritually minded for that meet- 
ing. As it often is now with our Church meetings, 
they were the " chosen " of the " called." Matt. 
20 :16; (Matt. 18 :19, 20.) The (8) next Church meet- 
ing was called to again reveal and to more deeply im- 
press the teaching of the last meeting. — Mate. 17 :2: 23 ; 
Mark 9 :30-32 ; Luke 9 :43-45. To clearly receive the 
doctrine of His crucifixion was most difficult for these 
disciples. The (9) next Church meeting was for 
teaching them the much needed lesson, that Christianity 
does not abrogate the claims of human government,— 



194 



ORIGIN OF THE 



Matt. 17 :24-27 ; Mark 9 :33. The v 10) next Church 
meeting was to teach them the much needed lessons of 
humility, to caution them against casting stumbling- 
blocks in the way of converted young children. f At 
this meeting He revealed to them a very important 
principle and law of Church government, namely, that 
with the Church is all Church government, and how 
this government is to settle personal difficulties. — 
Matt. 18:1-14; 18:15-20; Mark 9:33-50; Luke 9: 
46-50. At this meeting He, also, taught them that 
there is no limit to personal forgiveness. I say per- 
sonal forgiveness, because this is often perverted into 
keeping bad men in the Church, who, by " whining 
confessions," continue in the Church while persisting 
in their sin. It refers to only personal matters. The 
(11) next Church meeting was to send forth "the 
Seventy" to preach, cast out demons and heal the 
sick. — Luke 10 :1-16. The (12) next Church meeting 
was to hear the report which the Seventy made, on 
their return.— Luke 10 :17-24. The (13) next Church 
meeting was to teach the disciples how to pray. — 
Luke 11 :13. 

I cannot notice all the recorded Church meetings, 
which were held before the day of Pentecost, but pass 
to notice the most important ones, in the latter part of 
Christ's history on earth. 

The ( 14) next one, which I notice, is the one in which 
Jesus instituted the Supper, and committed it to His 

t A lesson, in our times, sadly needed. 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH. 



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Church.— Matt. 26 :26-29 ; Mark 14 :22-25 ; Luke 22 : 
19,20; 1 Cor. 11:23-26, and quotes: " In the midst 
of the Church will I sing praise." — Heb. 2:12. Ben- 
gel, Adam Clarke, Matt. Henry — all commentators — I 
believe, refer this to Christ. Matt. Henry also says : 
" In this Psalm it was foretold that Christ should 
have a Church, a congregation in the world. To these 
He would declare His Father's name." — In loco. As G. 
W. Clarke comments : " This is the only recorded in- 
stance of singing by Jesus Christ and His disciples " 
— On Matt, 26 :30. It is therefore, from David's and 
Paul's words, certain that Jesus and His disciples, 
here, partook of the Supper and sung in the 
Church. 

Previous to this, baptism was the only ordinance 
which the Church possessed. It initiated regenerate 
persons into the Church- But, now, as they are to 
soon more clearly understand the Cross of Christ, the 
Supper is given, to teach them that they live by re- 
peatedly eating the Bread of life ; Judas, having gone 
out, between the Passover and the Holy Supper. — 
John 13 :27-30 — at this meeting Jesus delivered to His 
Church the 14th, the 15th, the 16th of John, and 
uttered the 17th Chapter as His parting prayer for 
them. 

The (15) next Church meeting was on the evening 
next after His resurrection. — Mark 16 :14 ; Luke 24 : 
36-49 ; John 20 :19-25 ; 1 Cor. 15 :5. At this meeting 
were present only ten of the apostles — Thomas being 



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OEIGIN OF THE 



absent. f At this meeting He revived the faith and the 
hope of His Church. The (16) next Church meeting 
was on the next Sabbath, or first day evening. — John 
20 ; 2 6-2 9. At this meeting Thomas was present and 
was revived. The (17) next Church meeting was at 
the sea of Galilee, for the purpose of restoring Peter 
to His apostleship and the confidence of all his breth- 
ren.— Matt. 28:16; John 21:1:23. The (18) next 
meeting was on a mountain, in Galilee, at which 
there were 500 Church members present. That 
meeting was to enlarge their commission, from the 
Jews to " all the world. " — (Compare Matt. 10 :5, 6 ; 
28 :19 ; Mark 16 :15, 16;) Matt. 28 : 16-50 ; Mark 16 : 
15-18; 1 Cor. 15:6. (G. W. Clarke's Harmony.) 
Jerusalem was probably the location of the Church if 
it then had any location „ But the Church was made 
up of disciples from Judea, Galilee, and may be, of 
Samaria. " This meeting was, by special appointment 
of our Lord Himself, in a country where He had 
labored the most and had the most disciples, and 
where so large a number of them could be most easily 
gathered. ... It is also reasonable to suppose that 
the message from the angels, regarding the appearance 
in Galilee, (Matt. 28:7; Mark 16:7,) was regarded as 
applying to the whole discipleship, and had led the 

t Paul speaks of the apostles "by the usual appellation of the 
twelve, 1 Cor. 15 :5 : Matthew, Mark and Lnke here speak of them 
as the eleven. Yet, on this particular occasion, only ten were 
present. See John 20 :24." — Bobinson's Greek Har.p.233. 



CAMPBELLITE CHUKCH. 



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brethren, generally, to go to Galilee, and. await the 
public manifestation of their Lord. ... It was fitting, 
also, that the great and last commission should be thus 
publicly given. This is the view of the best recent 
commentators and the majority of harmonists." — 
G. W. Clarke's liar. p. 319. 

(19) While He may have met the Church between the 
time when He enlarged the commission and the time of 
His ascension, the last time, He is clearly recorded to 
have met them, was when at Bethany or Olivet 
(Bethany being situated on the eastern slope of the 
Mount of Olives, Luke uses Bethany and the Mount of 
Olives, interchangeably,) whence He ascended. At 
this meeting, He appointed the ten day's prayer meet- 
ing of the Church, which was, consequently, followed 
by the outpouring of the Spirit, on the day of Pente- 
cost.— Luke 24 :49-53 ; Acts 1 :4-14. 

Of the many Church meetings between the organi- 
zation of the Church and the ascension, I have now no- 
ticed nineteen. We have seen that there were meetings 
for preaching to only the Church, for prayer, for 
business, such as appointing Church officers, insti- 
tuting the Holy Supper, giving the commission to 
preach and enlarging that commission, so that it is 
world wide. t 

t Let it not be overlooked that it is not necessary to know the 
exact date of the organization of the Church and the kingdom, 
or to discover a Church meeting before the day of Pentecost, to 
overthrow the Campbellite notion of 4 4 no gospel, no Church, no 
kingdom before the day of Pentecost." To overthrow the Camp- 



198 



ORIGIN OF THE 



Sec. VIII. The different comings of the kingdom 
with explanation of the Scriptures over which Camp- 
bellites stumble. 

There are three classes of Scriptures, one of which 
speaks of the kingdom, as existing before the day of 
Pentecost, one of which speaks of it, as coming on the 
day of Pentecost, the other of w T hich speaks of the 
kingdom, as coming when Jesus returns the second 
time. The first of these three classes, we have noticed. 
That class of Scriptures, as we have seen, most clearly 
speaks of the kingdom as having already come, in the 
sense of having been " set up," organized or insti- 
tuted.— Dan. 2:44; Matt. 11:28; 12:28; 16:19 ; 23: 
13; 21:31; Mark 12:34; Luke 16 :16 ; 17:20, 21; 
Matt. 18:17. In the Bible there is no intimation of 
another kingdom to succeed this one ; but the very 
contrary is stated — that it is 66 an everlasting king- 
dom 99 and that " it shall stand forever." — Dan. 7 :27; 
2 :44. We are, therefore, certain that the Scriptures 
which speak of the kingdom as to come, on the day of 
Pentecost, and at the second coming, do not speak of 
its coming in the same sense in which they speak of it 

bellite notion, all that was necessary, was to show that God's 
own word says that the gospel was preached and that there were a 
kingdom and a Church in existence before the day of Pentecost. 
In Sections 3,4 and 5, of this Chapter, I have met this necessity 
with irresistible evidence — save to those who " have closed their 
eyes " to the truth. Yet, so clearly have I proved the date of 
the organization of the Church and traced its meetings before the 
day of Pentecost, that it writes over Campbellism Belshazzar's 
doom: ; 4 Thou art weighed in the balances and art found 
wanting." 



C AMPB ELL1TE CHURCH. 



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as having previously come. The Scriptures cannot con- 
tradict themselves. The following are the Scriptures 
which the Campbellites pervert, to prove their notion 
of " no gospel, no kingdom, no Church before the 
day of Pentecost."— Mark 9:1; 15 :43 ; Luke 23 :51 ; 
John 7 :39. 

The following are some of the Scriptures which are 
used, by others, to prove that there has been no king- 
dom set up and that there will be no kingdom set up 
till Jesus' second coming : — Matt. 6 :10 ; Matt. 19 :28 ; 
25:34; 1 Cor. 15:50; 2 Tim. 4:1 ; Eev. 12:10; 20:4. 
According to their method of testing the Scriptures, 
the Campbellites take the few passages, of the second 
class, and with their Campbellite "pestle" "bray" 
them in the Campbellite " mortar." (Prov. 27 :22.) 
Though, in debates, I have often presented the other 
Scriptures to the Campbellites to harmonize with their 
notions, and have read — figuratively speaking— cart 
loads of their books and have heard them preach ad 
infinitum, I cannot remember an instance of a Camp- 
bellite attempting to harmonize the few Scriptures 
which they quote with the two other classes. The 
fool proved by the Bible that there " is no God," by 
leaving out " the fool hath said." (Psa. 14 :1.) By 
leaving out the Scriptures, which tell us the kingdom 
was in existence before the day of Pentecost, and that 
it is to come at the Second Advent, Campbellites, to 
prove their notion, that there was no kingdom before 
the day of Pentecost, employ the same method. 



200 



ORIGIN OF THE 



I now call your attention to the meaning and the 
harmony between the three classes of Scriptures, re- 
ferred to, which speak of the coming of the kingdom. 
1. We have seen that the first class can be understood 
in no other sense than that the kingdom was set up, 
during the personal or earthly ministry of Jesus. 2. 
The meaning of the second class, John 7 :39 is a parallel 
to John 16 :8-ll ; Matt.3 : 11 ; Joel 2:28-32, et ah These 
Scriptures speak of the " baptism of the Spirit," of 
His inspiring the servants of God, of His miracu- 
lous power, and, also, of His inspiring, exclu- 
sively of the miraculous power, His people with 
greater spirituality and power than w r as the char- 
acteristic of the Old Testament age. But, were 
we to adopt the Campbellite method, we would make 
them contradict numerous other Scriptures, by teaching 
that the Holy Spirit was not in the world, regene- 
rating, preserving, etc., before the day of Pentecost. 
See Gen. 6:3; Isa. 44:3; Ezek. 11:19; 18:31; Psa. 
51: 10, 11, 12, where it is clearly taught that the Spirit 
was in the world from the earliest times. Acts 1 :8 
is the key to the Spirit's purpose to come on the day 
of Pentecost. He was to give the Church greater 
power than it previously did or could possess; and 
was to carry the arrow of conviction to the heart 
with greater power than had ever before been known. 
— John 16 :8-ll. In the apostles' lives, before Pente- 
cost, contrasted with their lives after that : in the power 
with which the word reached the heart, on Pentecost. 



CAMPBELLITE CHUKCH. 



201 



contrasted with its previous power ; in the influence of 
the gospel before Pentecost, contrasted with its influ- 
ence after Pentecost, we have the giving of the Spirit, 
the coming of the already existing kingdom clearly illus- 
trated. On Pentecost, weak, fearing apostles, jealous, 
proud, slow of understanding, slow of believing apos- 
tles, become strong, brave, loving, humble, ready of 
understanding and belief. The infant Church has be- 
come a Samson. Men whose hearts turned from the 
gospel preached by Christ and His apostles, to crucify 
Him, now joyfully accept the blessed gospel of the 
Son of God, By one sermon, by Peter, probably 
more were saved than by the three years' work of John, 
Christ and His apostles. German skepticism admits 
that something must have occurred between the nio'ht 
in which Peter was scared into denying his Master 
with curses, and between the time in which he bravely 
and faithfully faced the crucifiers, with their hands 
dripping with the blood of the Son of God, and charged 
their guilt upon them in no smooth and sugared terms. 
— Acts 2:23, 36, Paulus, a German skeptical writer, 
says : " If we take in, with a historic glance, the ac- 
count of the origin of Christianity, from the last even- 
ing of the life of Jesus to the end of the fifty days that 
followed, it is undeniable that in this brief interval 
something of an extraordinary character, in inspiring 
their courage must have occurred to have brought the 
apostles, who timorously fled on that night, who were 
in the last degree destitute of self-reliance and help- 



202 



ORIGIN OF THE 



less, to the point at which they stood, when exalted 
above all fear of death in the presence of the judges 
of the murdered Jesus, judges exasperated to the last 
degree, they exclaimed, " we ought to obey God rather 
than men." — Komm. vol. 3, p. 867 — in TholucJc on 
John, p. 405. " Something extraordinary," says 
Strauss, another German skeptical writer, "must have 
occurred."— Vol. 2, p. 631, 4th Ed. in TholucJc's 
Com. on John, p. 405. This is " the coming of the 
kingdom."— Mark 15 :9 ; 9 :1 ; " the kingdom of God 
came ivith power ;" the beginning of the fulfillment of 
all those Scriptures which speak of the Holy Spirit as 
not yet given, as to come, etc., etc. In the Spirit's 
consecrating God's people, converting sinners with 
greater power and effectiveness, than He did under the 
Old Dispsnsation, we have the characteristic of the 
New Testament age. 

3. The meaning of the third class of Scriptures — 
the class which speaks of the kingdom as yet to come. 
Were I to adopt the Campbellite method of racking 
Holy Scripture, I would, by this class of Scriptures 
prove that God has no kingdom and that He will have 
none before the Second Advent. — Matt. 6 :10; 19 :23; 
25 :34 ; 1 Cor. 15 :50 ; 2 Tim. 4 :1 ; Kev. 12 :10 ; 20 :4. 
Inasmuch as other Scriptures teach that the kingdom 
was " set up," while Jesus was on earth, we must look 
for the coming of the kingdom, as prophesied in these 
Scriptures, in a different sense than the sense of, to 
begin to exist. The Scriptures supply us with a ready 



CAMPBELL1TE CHURCH. 



203 



interpretation of these passages. We have seen that 
the coming of the kingdom 6 ' with power," on Pente- 
cost, was prophesied as though it were to then begin to 
exist ; while, at the same time, the Scriptures plainly 
tell us that it was in existence at the time of the 
prophecy. From this we infer that there is a develop- 
ment of the kingdom. This inference is confirmed by 
the Scripture. Daniel prophesied that " it shall 
break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms;" that 
from a little stone " it became a great mountain and 
filled the whole earth." — Dan, 2:44,35. Our Lord 
likened it to a grain of mustard seed, 66 which in- 
deed is less than all seeds ; but when it is grown it is 
greater than the herbs, and becometh a tree, so that 
the birds of the heaven come and lodge in the branches 
thereof;" to " leaven, which a woman took and hid 
n three measures of meal, till it was all leavened." — 
Matt. 13:31-33. 

As the kingdom received a new power and momen- 
tum, on Pentecost, so, when Jesus comes again, it will 
receive yet greater power and momentum. Then Satan 
will be bound, the righteous dead raised, the throne of 
David restored, the Spirit given, as He was never 
before given, and the Jews converted. 

" He shall judge thy people with righteousness, 
And thy poor with judgment, 
He shall judge the poor of thy people, 
He shall save the children of the needy, 
And shall break in pieces the oppressor, 
They shall fear thee while the sun endureth, 
And so long as the moon, throughout all generations." 



204 



ORIGIN OF THE 



< 'For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the 
Lord, as the waters cover the sea." — Psa. 72 :3-5 ; Isa. 
11 :9 ; Eev. 20 :l-5 ; Rom. 11 : 25-32 ; Luke 21 : 24 ; 
Isa. 11:10-12 ; Ezek. 36 :24-28 ; Micah 3 :12 ; 4:1, 2 ; 
Isa. 60 ; Zech. 8 :20-23 ; 12 :9-14 ; Isa. 2 : 2, 3 ; 8:22, 
23 ; 32 :13-17 ; 59 :20 ; Acts 15 :16,17 ; Amos 9 :11,12. 

This kingdom, being an everlasting kingdom, is to 
continue to develop until it reaches absolute perfection. 
Thus, we see that the kingdom was 6 'set up" while 
Christ was on earth ; that it receives such wonderful 
power on Pentecost, and then again, at the return 
of our Lord, that it is, figuratively, said to have cornet 
Objections. 

There are four objections which Campbellites here 
offer, calling for notice. 

1. The parable of the pounds is used, by the Camp- 
bellites, to prove that there was no kingdom before 
the day of Pentecost. — Luke 19:11-27. Their argu- 
ment is: The nobleman is Jesus, who went into 
heaven, for His kingdom and returned with it on the 
day of Pentecost. — Hay-Lucas Deb. p. 19. 

My first reply to this argument is, that it throws 
suspicion upon the position which it is used to prove, 
in that it is a resort to a parable as proof. Says 
Trench: "The parables may not be first sources of 
doctrine. Doctrines otherwise and already grounded 

f Campbellites cannot take advantage of this and reply: "After 
all, the kingdom did come on the day of Pentecost." For, their 
doctrine is, not that the kingdom came with new power, at that 
time, hut that it then came in the sense of beginning to exist. 



CAMPBELL ITE CHURCH. 



205 



may be illustrated, or indeed, farther confirmed by 
them ; but it is not allowable to constitute doctrine, 
first, by their aid. They may be the outward orna- 
mental fringe but not the main texture of the proof. 
For from the literal to the figurative, from the clearer 
to the more obscure, has ever been recognized as the 
law of Scripture interpretation. This rule, however, 
has often been forgotten and controversialists looking 
around for arguments from which to sustain sometveak 
position, one for which they can find no other support in 
Scripture, often invent for themselves support in 
these." — Trench on Parables,^. 39. 

Trench proceeds to show how the Romanists and the 
early heretics resorted to the parables for support: — 
"Irenaeus is continually compelled to vindicate the par- 
ables against them, and to rescue them from the ex- 
treme abuse to which they submitted them . . . Ter- 
tuljian has the same conflict to maintain. The whole 
scheme of the Gnostics was a great floating cloud- 
palace, the figment of their own brain, having no coun- 
terpart in the actual world of realities . . . They 
found no difficulty ... in forcing the parables to be 
upon theirf side." — Idem, pp. 41, 42. If there were 
any plain 4 'thus saith the Lord," to support this Camp- 

fAs illustrations of this perversion of the parables, witness the 
use of the parable of the wicked husbandmen, in support of 
infant baptism ; the parable of the tares, to prove that wicked 
men ought not to be excluded from the Church ; the parable of 
the prodigal son to prove that we were born children of God, 
pure, etc. 



206 



ORIGIN OF THE 



bellite position, they would not have to make the re- 
sort of the early heretics, Romanists and other Pedo- 
baptists their rock of defense. 

Second. Were parables proof, the parable is, posi- 
tively, the death of the notion for which it is brayed 
into the Campbellite mortar. 

1. In explaining this parable, Trench says : "In the 
great Roman Empire, wherein the senate of Rome, and 
afterwards its emperors, though not kings themselves, 
yet made and unmade kings, such a circumstance as 
that which serves for the ground-work of this parable 
can have been of no unfrequent occurrence. Thus 
Herod the Great .... flying to Rome before Antig- 
onus was there declared by the senate, king of the 

Jews. In like manner bis son Archelaus The 

kingdom which this nobleman goes to receive can 
scarcely be as some understand it, another kingdom, 

at a distance from the land of his birth There 

can hardly then be any question but that the kingdom 
which he goes to receive, is not another, but that very 
same of w T kich he himself was a citizen." — On Para- 
bles, pp. 417, 418. (2) Jesus, having been born 
king— Matt. 2 : 2 ; 27 : 11, 12, 29, 30 ; John 19:21 
— the parable does not illustrate Him as becoming a 
king, and as becoming possessor of His kingdom but it 
illustrates only\ the refusal of the Jews to acknowledge 

fLet him who proposes to make parables illustrate by each of 
their particulars, study out (1) whatfrn, (2) what pounds, instead 
of yards, mean. Perhaps, some Campbellite doctrine may be 
forced out of these statements. As well make them prove some- 
thing, as to make Christ a private citizen, from the nobleman. 



CAMPBELLTE CHURCH. 



207 



Him as the King. This is farther confirmed by the 
fact, that at the very time when He spoke the parable, 
He was rebuking the Jews for their present actions, in 
rejecting Him as King. — Luke 19 :14-27. (3) The 
fact is, the Jews, at the time He spoke the parable, re- 
jected Him; but they accepted Him on the day of 
Pentecost.— Acts 2:41; 4:4; 6:7. On Acts 4:1-22 
Baumgarten says : — "On the day of Pentecost the 
wanton mockery of a few was overcome and put to 
silence by Peter coming forward. We must, there- 
fore, regard what is here related as the first positive 
act of hostility which the Church had to experience. It 
is clearly in this light that our narrative places the 
matter." — Apost. Hist. vol. 1, p. 90; so, G. W. 
Clarke's Har. of Acts, p. 155. Some put this first 
opposition into the next year after Pentecost. G. W. 
Clarke places it the Oct. next after May, when the 
Pentecost was had. — G. W. Clarke's Har. of Acts, p. 
155. (4) It was, beyond doubt, sufficiently long after 
Pentecost to show that the rejection of Jesus was 
neither on Pentecost, when He came in power and 
when Campbellites say He came to receive His king- 
dom, nor near Pentecost. (5) To harmonize the 
parable with Campbellism we should, therefore, have 
to make it read that the nobleman was rejected at 
the time he went to receive the kingdom, instead of 
when he returned!! (6) The Campbellites overlook 
that the parable states that Jesus was King, before 
He went, that He was King while gone, and that He 



208 



OEIGIN OF THE 



was King on His return. As King, He divided the 
pounds ; as serving the King, or rejecting Him they 
used the pounds; and as King, when He returns, 
He rewards His servants. He did reign in thus deal- 
ing with His servants: — "Howbeit these mine ene- 
mies, who would not that I should reign over them, 
bring hither, and slay them before me." — Luke 19: 27. 
Let it not be overlooked, that rejecting His reign was 
in not rightly using the trust : that that was while He 
was gone ; and, that, therefore, while gone His reign 
was acknowledged by those who used well the pounds. 

2. The second objection, to the position that the 
kingdom was set up before Pentecost, is that * 6 Jesus 
was crowned at His ascension." From this it is 
argued that He was not previously King. But, firsts 
such an inference contradicts the Scriptures which call 
Him King, and which say that He set up His kingdom 
before the time of His ascension. Second, the inference 
does not follow from the premise. James II of 
England, took the throne in February 6th, delivered his 
royal proclamation and was crowned the twenty-third 
of the following April. Macaulay's Hist. Eng., vol. 
pp. 130, 140. William, Prince of Orange, was 
declared King, February 6th, soon after that took the 
throne and was crowned the following April 14th — 
idem vol. 2, p. 192, vol. 3, p. 36. Through fear of 
the Nihilists, the present Emperor of Russia reigned a 
long time before he was crowned. This argument, by 
which Campbellites exclude Jesus from his own king- 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH. 



209 



dom and His own throne, for nearly three years, would 
exclude these kings from their kingdom and throne. 
Kings are not crowned to make them kings ; but they 
are crowned because they are kings. Coronation is 
but the "act or solemnity of crowning a sovereign ." 
Webster's Unabridged Die. If crowning constituted 
a king, Gladstone might be made king. Like baptism, 
Campbellites have this matter reversed, — that is, as 
they baptize a man to make him a child of God, in- 
stead of because he is one, they would crown men to 
make them kings, instead of because they are kings. 
But, with them it is "anj^thing" to rule Jesus out of 
His own kingdom and from His own throne, for the 
sake of their Pentecost notion. 

3. From Heb. 9:16,17, it is argued that the death 
of Jesus must have occurred before the gospel was 
preached, men were saved, the kingdom and the 
Church were set up. In reply, first, this inference 
would make this Scripture positively contradict the 
many Scriptures which unequivocally inform us that 
the very reverse is true. Second, Scott, Adam Clarke, 
Faber, Scholefield, Ebrard, Perowne, rightly make 
diatheekee (Scadyxy) mean "covenant" instead of 
testament. Thus it corresponds to berith ( nnn ) 
the Old Testament word for covenant. The passage 
says that the death of Jesus was necessary to render 
the New Covenant a^saving covenant. Both past and 
present, they were saved by his death. Save here, 
the Bible Union and the Revised Versions render dia- 



210 



ORIGIN OF THE 



theekee covenant — they should have done so here. Third. 
If it means testament, Jesus attended to His business 
while living; when dead His will went into force. 
While living He certainly administered His affairs as 
well as they are administered after His death. While 
living, He preached the Gospel, saved men; set up 
His Church. Who, but Campbellites, ever thought a 
King must die before he could pardon rebels, have, 
and rule a kingdom ! ! 

4. The fourth objection to the position that the 
kingdom was not set up before the day of Pentecost is 
made up of perversions of Isa. 2:2,3; Micah, 4:1,2; 
Luke 24:46,47. — Ray-Lucas Debate, p. 11, 

Says Mr. Lucas: ' 'These prophecies thus present 
especially this truth : that the time will come when 
the house of the Lord, or the Church of the living 
God shall be established, looking to the future ; and 
when established, the law shall go forth of Zion, 
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem .... 
Jerusalem is the place whence the law shall start, the 
proclamation of the kingdom of Jesus Christ shall be 
made, is clearly presented in these passages. But in 
connection. . . . 6 Thus it is written, and thus it be- 
hooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the 
third day : And that repentance and remission of sins 
should be preached in his name among all nations, be- 
ginning at Jerusalem.' " — Ray-Lucas Debate, p. 12. 

The sum of the Campbellite argument is that Jeru- 
salem was the location of the fir*t Church ; that the 
Apostles were to wait there for the * 'promise" of the 
Spirit and .from there go out into all the world, to 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH. 



211 



preach. In reply to this, first, to make these Scrip- 
tures mean that there was no gospel, no Church, no 
kingdom, no Kino- before Pentecost is to make them 
positively contradict the statements of the Scripture, 
to the contrary. Second, there is not one word in 
them about the kingdom and the Church being on Pen- 
tecost set up. Third, they say that the gospel, in the 
last days, should take the Church at Jerusalem as its 
starting point, for all the world, — "that repentance and 
remission of sins should be preached in his name 
among all nations, beginning" — that is beginning to 
preach it among all nations — "at Jerusalem." We have 
seen that through the name of Jesus they were saved 
in the Old Dispensation : that — John 1 : 29 — John and 
the apostles preached this blessed name — the gospel 
before Pentecost ; that men were saved before Pente- 
cost ; that of these saved, the kingdom and the Church 
were organized before Pentecost. No man who knows 
anything of the Scriptures can, honestly, deny that 
persons in the Old Dispensation were saved ; and that 
they were saved between that time and Pentecost : 
nor, can he, any nearer, deny that they were all saved 
through the name of Jesus — "for neither is there sal- 
vation in any name under heaven, that is given amono* 
men, wherein we must be saved;" "and in none 
other is there salvation."' Acts 4: 12, But, before 
Pentecost the gospel was for the Jews only. The 
Commission, to preach the gospel, when first given by 
Jesus to His disciples, was in contrast to the commis- 



212 



ORIGIN OF THE 



sion, when enlarged, to go forth from Jerusalem. The 
Commission was first : 

6 6 Go not into any way of the Gentiles, and enter not 
into any city of the Samaritans ; but go ye rather to 
the lost sheep of the house of Israel." Matt. 10 :5, 6. 
The same commission, after the resurrection, was en- 
larged so as to read : "Go ye into all the world, and 
preach the gospel to the whole creation;" "Go ye, 
therefore, make disciples of all the nations." Mark 
16 :15 ; Matt. 28 :19. Before Pentecost : preach, bap- 
tize only among the Jews ; after Pentecost, beginning 
at Jerusalem, it is : preach, baptize among all nations 
— "repentance and remission of sins should be preached 
among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." But, in 
the name of all reason and exegesis, how can any one 
make this mean that there was no gospel, no remis- 
sion of sins, no church, no kingdom, no King, before 
the gospel began at Jerusalem, as the gospel for the 
"whole creation?" This Campbellite argument is a 
sophism, called by works on logic an ignoratio elenchi 
— a misaprehension of the question ; an argument of a 
nature to establish some other point, foreign to the 
question in debate. It is of the kind of argument, by 
which Alfred the Great would be proved a scholar, 
bv proving that he founded the University of Oxford, 
or that Mohammedans are Christians, because they do 
not believe in the use of intoxicating liquors. In other 
words, the passages prove that the law and the gospel, 
under the commission, as enlarged, were to go forth in- 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH 



213 



to all the world, from Jerusalem, which Baptists have 
ever firmly believed ; but that has nothing to do with 
the debated question, as to whether the gospel was pre- 
viously preached, the kingdom and the church pre- 
viously instituted, and Jesus previously King. But, 
fourth, I must modify what I have just said, so far as 
to call attention to the fact that these Scriptures not 
only do not imply any setting up of a kingdom and a 
church on Pentecost and a new gospel, but they imply 
the very contrary. Pray, let some Campbellite tell us 
how the law could go forth from Zion, in Jerusalem, 
when there was no Zion there? If no gospel before 
Pentecost, where are the members who are to consti- 
tute such a Zion, such a kingdom, and to preach the 
gospel when the Spirit is poured out? Who had the 
commission of Mark 16, and Matthew 28*, if there were 
no Zion at that time? 

Sec. IX. I will close this chapter by adding to the 
above argument, viz., the record, in the first and the 
second chapters of Acts, contains not the least intima- 
tion of the constitution of the Church and the kin£- 
dom on Pentecost, but it plainly tells us the contrary. 
Let some Campbellite point to the verse, in either of 
these chapters, that records the setting up of the 
kingdom and the Church at that time ! Instead of 
anything of the kind, a, Acts 1 to 2 : 1 finds a Church 
already existing, engaged in prayer, a Church doing 
business, by electing an apostle, b. Acts 2. finds a 
Church preaching the gospel, baptizing members into 



214 



ORIGIN OF THE 



its fellowship. See, especially, verses 38, 41-47. 

Says Baumgarten : "It is said 'they were added,' 
we must no doubt regard the original band of disci- 
ples as the stable and permanent foundation 

It is from this point of view that the newly received 
are described to us. Since, from the small beginning, 
the assembly felt itself suddenly advanced to so extra- 
ordinary enlargement. . . . The original form of the 
assembly of disciples was that of one family . , . . 
By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit this form of the 
community was fully confirmed and consecrated '." — - 
Apost. Hist. vol. 2, pp. 71, 72. (My italics). 

Neander, speaking of the one hundred and twenty, 
of Acts 1:15: "not the sum total of the whole Chris- 
tian Church," by which he impliedly states there was a 
Church before Pentecost. — Planting and Training of 
the Christian Church, p. 43; also p. 6. 

Bengel, on Acts 2 :41 : "About three thousand are 
said to have been added to the 120, though so much 
smaller a number, because the 120, as few as they 
were, nevertheless constituted the original head and 
body of believers. So in verse 47, the Lord added to 
the Church about three thousand." 

Isaac Errett has quoted Neander, to prove that the 
Church was founded on Pentecost. But Neander says 
nothing of the kind, in the quotation which Mr. Errett 
has made ; nor does he say so anywhere. Besides, 
the quotation I have made from him, above, on page 6 
of the same work, he says : 

"It is true that Christ, during his ministry on earth, 
laid the foundation of the outward structure of the 



CAMPBELLITE CHURCH. 



215 



Church; he then formed that community, that spirit- 
ual Theocracy, whose members were held together by 
faith in, and confession of, Him as their theocratic 
King." 

Mr. Errett and his brethren, in citing church histo- 
rians, on this point, misapprehend their meaning as 
much as they misapprehend the meaning of the Scrip- 
tures. Several Church historians speak of the birth- 
day of the Church as having been on Pentecost. But 
they seem to do so just as the class of Scriptures do, 
upon which Campbellites, on this point, rely. 

Thus, Guericke says : 4 'Pentecost became the birth- 
day of the Church, whose members were now gathered 
in large numbers. " -Guericke" s Ch. Hist. vol. 1 ,p.61 . 
(My italics. ) But, if the Church was founded at that 
time, how could Guericke speaks of it as previously 
having 4 4 members' ' — 4 4 whose members?" Evidently, 
he means that it then came with power, though al- 
ready existing. So Neander, after recognizing the ex- 
istence of the Church before Pentecost, says : 

* 4 It is because that great event so prefigured and 
prepared for, was accomplished at the time of the first 
Pentecost celebrated by the disciples after the Savior's 
departure, that this feast is of so great significance, as 
marking the commencement of the Apostolic Church, 
for here it first made its outward manifestation accord- 
ing to its inner nature." Planting and Training of 
the Chr. Ch. 9 p. 7. 

In other words, Neander says that some Church his- 
torians speak of the birth of the Church at that time, 



216 



ORIGIN OF THE 



not to exclude its previous existence, but to mark the 
new life which it then received and impressed on the 
world. Thus, Mosheim, as another example, speaks of 
the Church as having its birth on Pentecost, after 
having, on the previous page, recognized its existence 
as « < the assembly" "there present," by "a plurality 
of voices" electing Matthias. 

I have given this notice of the testimony of Church 
historians, for the reason that Campbellites as wildly 
misconstrue them and make them contradict themselves 
and each other, as they do the Holy Scriptures. In 
the same way, they misconstrue the testimony of Com- 
mentators. 

Another word: — Should it be said that Acts 2 :41 
"does not mean added to the Church," I ask, then, 
baptized into what? Verses 42, 46 and 47 speak of 
those of verse 4i partaking of the Supper, and other 
acts of Church life. No one denies that verse 47 states 
that they were added to the Church : yet, the Sinaitic, 
the Vatican, and the Alexandrine MSS. — the three 
oldest and best MSS. — omit "the Church." And, says 
Adam Clarke, also, "by B. C. Coptic, Sahidic, Ethi- 
opic, Arminian and Vulgate." The Kevised Version 
decides that the authorities are against rrj exxfyata — the 
Church — as the Greek text. If you deny that they 
were added to the Church in verse 41, because the word 
Church is not in that verse, therefore, also make the 
same denial concerning verse 47 ; thus eliminate the 
Church from the second chapter of Acts! The truth 



CAMPBELL1TE CHURCH. 



217 



is, Acts II , independently of any other Scripture, 
shuts us up to the conclusion that there was a Church 
in existence when the day of Pentecost came, which 
then preached, baptized and received members into its 
body. 

Thus, in no part of the Bible is there any support 
for the Campbellite notion, that the Gospel was not 
preached, the kingdom and the Church were not setup, 
before the day of Pentecost. 

I have noticed this matter beyond what its import- 
ance calls for, because the Campbellites make it unduly 
prominent ; and, when they are not refuted, make it a 
means of deluding themselves and others. Their mo- 
tive for giving this question such prominence, is, to 
rule out the testimony in Jesus forgiving sins without 
baptism, and, because they vainly hope to found bap- 
tismal regeneration on Acts 2:38, which they claim 
was the first Gospel sermon that was ever preached. 
Thus we see how that one perversion of the Bible calls 
for another perversion. 



218 



CAMPBELLISM REJECTS THE 



CHAPTER XI. 

CAMPBELLISM REJECTS THE TEACHINGS OF SCRIPTURE 
UPON THE DOCTRINE OF THE DEPRAVITY OF 
HUMAN NATURE. 

Section 1. Definition of Total Depravity. 

Baptists understand that the Scriptures teach "total 
depravity." By "total depravity," Baptists do not 
mean that a man is, by nature as wicked as he can be — 
that he cannot tell the truth, refrain from stealing, 
murder, etc. ; and, that he cannot do any act of kind- 
ness or benevolence. No Baptist writer or speaker, of 
note — if any at all — and no Baptist Confession of faith 
ever put any such meaning on "total" when used to 
designate depravity. Art. IV. of the Confession, of 
1G43 reads, that all the posterity of Adam are "con- 
ceived in sin, and by nature the children of wrath, the 
servants of sin, the subjects of death, and other mis- 
eries, in this world, and forever, unless the Lord Jesus 
Christ set them free." Chapter VII. of the Confes- 
sion of 1689: "Our first parents, by their sin, fell 
from their original righteousness and communion with 
God, and we in them, whereby death came upon all; 
all becoming dead in sin, and wholly defiled, in all the 
faculties and parts of soul and body." etc. The New 
Hampshire Confession — made about 1834 — : "We be- 



BIBLE ON DEPRAVITY. 



219 



lieve that man was created in holiness, under the law of 
his Maker ; but by voluntary transgression fell from 
that holy and happy estate ; in consequence of which 
all mankind are now sinners, not by constraint but by 
choice ; being by nature utterly void of that holiness 
required by the law of God; positively inclined to 
evil ; and therefore, under just condemnation to eter- 
nal ruin, without defense or excuse."' — Art. HI. 

These Confessions substantially express the same un- 
derstanding of the Sciiptures. The last Confession, 
it is believed, is more generally used in our Churches ; 
while the first has, probably, wholly been displaced by 
the others. Says J. M. Pendleton, D. D., author of 
' ' Church Manual," "Theology," etc : "The correct 
meaning of total depravity is entire destitution of ho- 
liness. Man is totally depraved in the sense that there 
is, in his heart, no love for God." 

J. L. Dagg, D. D. : "The love of God is dethroned 
from the heart, and therefore the grand principle of 
morality is wanting, and no true morality exists. A 
total absence of that by which the actions should be 
be controlled and directed is total depravity." 

Andrew Fuller : "If by total depravity you mean 
that men are so corrupt as to be incapable of adding 
sin to sin, I know of no person who maintains any such 
a sentiment. All I mean by the term is this : — That 
the human heart is by nature totally destitute of love 
to God, or love to man as the creature of God, and 
consequently is destitute of all true virtue. A being 



220 



CAMPBELLISM REJECTS THE 



may be utterly destitute of good, and therefore totally 
depraved (such, it will be allowed, is Satan) and yet 
capable of adding iniquity to iniquity without end." — 
Fuller's Works, Vol. 2., p. 662. 

These representative Confessions of Faith and rep- 
resentative writers among Baptists set forth, beyond 
doubt, what Baptists mean by 6 6 total depravity." It 
is like a bottle of water which has been poisoned ; it is 
totally poisoned — every drop and every part of a drop 
is poisoned. Yet, that same bottle might be made 
more poisonous. Bat, as it is, to drink is certain 
death. So of man's nature: every part of it is poi- 
soned by sin. (See Webster's Dictionary on total.) 

Campbellites deny that man is totally depraved. 
Says Eld. J. R. Lucas: "We offered an argument 
against the gentleman's Church, because it teaches that 
man, by inheritance, is totally depraved, corrupt in 
every faculty of the soul and member of his body, inca- 
pable of thinking a good thought or doing a good 
deed ; that he is opposed to all good, and prone to 
evil." — Ray-Lucas Deb. p. 369. 

Speaking of man not needing the Holy Spirit to 
regenerate him, Moses E. Lard : 6 6 The very thing 
which we utterly deny is, that any degree or form of 
depravity exists in the human heart, which renders the 
sinner incapable of conversion by the truth." — Quoted 
in Williams on Campbellism, p. 156. See Matties' 
Letters to Bishop Morris pp. 51, 52. 

Campbellites, it is thus seen, while admitting that 



BIBLE ON DEPRAVITY. 



221 



man is partly depraved, deny that he is totally de- 
praved. Some of them have been driven to accept the 
doctrine of total depravity ; but they are, rather, the 
exception. The teaching of Campbellites, generally, 
upon this subject is such that it but little impresses 
men with their horrible and lost condition. 

Sec. II. The doctrine of total depravity divides it- 
self into two divisions : 

/. We will notice Inherited Depravity — in the lan- 
guage of theologians, " original sin." 

1 . My first proof of inherited depravity is the his- 
tory of mankind. We should regard all persons as 
born with the same moral nature. — Mutter s Christian 
Doctrine of Sin, Vol. 2, pp. 265, 266. Hence, if 
men were born pure we should expect to find, at least, 
one person, somewhere in the history of the world, 
who grew up, lived and died as pure as God himself. 
But, nowhere in history has any sane man claimed 
such purity for himself ; nor have others claimed it 
for him. 

SaysMuller: "Anyone pretending to a moderate 
knowledge of men, would pity the man as a good 
natured simpleton, who expected to work with or by 
others, in the various relations of life, without making 
allowance for the natural moral weakness of man- 
kind, the frailty of their virtue." — Christian Doctrine 
of Sin, Vol, 2, p. 269. 

2. Philosophy and science lead us to infer that chil- 
dren inherit depravity. Sometimes A. Campbell 



222 



CAMPBELLISM REJECTS THE 



stumbled into confessing the truth. On this point he 
well wrote : 

6 6 There is, therefore, a sin of our nature, as well as 
personal transgression. Some inappositely call the sin 
of our nature, 'original sin,' as if the sin of Adam 
was the personal offense of his children. True, in- 
deed, it is; our nature was corrupted by the fall of 
Adam before it was transmitted to us ; and hence that 
hereditary imbecility to do good, and that proneness 
to do evil, so universally apparent in all human beings. 
Let no man open his mouth against the transmission of 
moral distemper, until he can satisfactorily explain 
the fact, that the special characteristic vices of 
the parents appear in their children, as well as the 
color of their skin or the contour of their faces. A 
disease in the moral constitution of man is as clearly 
transmissible as any physical taint, if there be any 
truth in history, biography, or human observation." — 
Christian System, pp. 28 \ 29. 

With this statement of Mr. Campbell before us, 
we can but say : How lamentable that Mr. Camp- 
bell's people, generally, have accepted the baneful part 
of his teachings, and rejected the truthful part! Mr. 
Lard, unable to answer Mr. Campbell on this, accepts it 
— then whittles it down, and so points it as to practi- 
cally make it nugatory and throw the responsibility 
upon the Creator. He says: 6 'But this frailty, or 
weakness, is not sin: it is only a condition without 
which there had been no sin. Nor is it a consequence 



BIBLE ON DEPRAVITY. 



223 



of Adam's sin. It is, however, a condition of sin, 
since without it Adam could not have sinned." Thus 
denying that our evil inclinations are sinful, and blam- 
ing God for giving them to us! Mr. Lard proceeds : 
"Nor, perhaps, will facts warrant the conclusion that 
this frailty is, even in our case, greatly increased." 
Thus, Mr. Lard's conclusion charges God with having 
created man with the wicked nature with which he is 
born. Where, in all infidel writings, is there a more 
wicked and shameful reflection on our Eighteous Cre- 
ator? He proceeds : "For greater weakness in sinning 
was never displayed than by Adam. He yielded to the 
first temptation ever presented to him, without, so far 
as we know, offering even the slightest resistance." 
"So far as we know," — yes, Mr. Lard — "so far as we 
know;" and yet, you, with all your boasting, that you 
and your people follow the Bible, will dare thus re- 
flect on your Maker, when you acknowledge that you 
know nothing about the matter — "so far as ice know." 
Surely, my readers do not expect me to reply to 
this wicked and shameful reflection on the Eighteous 
Creator, which is based upon ignorance. Mr. Lard 
adds: "None of his descendants did more" — Quo- 
ted in Williams on C ampbellism , p. 158. Eeacl 
Eccl. 7:29; Psa. 3 :7 ; 33 :4 ; Dan. 4 : 37 ; Gen. 1 :26. 
How philosophical, scientific and historical are Mr. 
Campbell's words; how shallow, wicked, shameful 
and ruinous, in their influence, are Mr. Lard's. Mr. 
Lard's being more flattering to human nature, Camp- 



224 



CAMPBELLISM REJECTS THE 



bellites have, on this point, followed him so far as to 
generally deny any and all moral depravity. 

3. The Scriptures clearly teach that children in- 
herit their wicked natures from their parents. (1) 
Alluding to verse 1, verse 4, of Job 14th, asks: 
' 'Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean;" 
that is, how can "man that is born of woman" have a 
pure nature? The answer is, ' 'not one." In his 
Heb. Lex. Ges. renders it: "Who will show one pure 
born of the impure." — Lex. p. 582. ( mrus ) tahor , 
rendered pure, Ges., defines: "pureness in a moral 
sense." Taumau (nDto) he defines, "Unclean, de- 
filed, impious, wicked." The passage asks: "Who will 
show one morally pure, or righteous, born of one mor- 
ally impure, or unrighteous. "It answers, "not one" can 
do so. Adam Clarke : "The text refers to man's original 
and corrupt nature. Every man that is born into the 
world comes into it in a corrupt or sinful state. This 
is called original sin ; and is derived from fallen 
Adam, who is the stock, to the utmost ramifications of 
the human family. Not one human spirit is born into 
the world without this corruption of nature. All are 
impure and unholy, and from this principle of de- 
pravity all transgression is produced; and from this 
corruption of nature God alone can save." — -in I. So 
the Bible Commentary et. al. The Septuagint in the 
Codex Alexandrinus, as quoted by Clarke emphasizes 
it : TVc yapearac xaipapoc, ano purcou ; oude er'c eav xaz [xca^ 
YjfjLepaz jevrjiaco fico<; auzau em rr^ yrfi — who is pure 



BIBLE ON DEPRAVITY. 



225 



from corruption? Not one, although he had lived 
but one day upon the earth. f 

How sadly true that Adam's disobedience — 
"Brought death into the world, and all our woe, 
With loss of Eden, till one greater Man 
Kestore us, and regain the blissful seat! " 
(2.) 6 'For vain man is void of understanding. Yea, 
man is born as wild ass's colt." — Job 11 : 12. The 
wild ass (&aa — pere) was swifter than the fleetest 
horse, taller, better formed than the domestic ass, was 
of a reddish color, wild and untamable , living in the 



t This doctrine is fatal to either baptism or rantism of infants. 
Presbyterian notions of infants being holy because their parents 
are holy, is manifestly unscriptural and dangerous. Besides, it 
involves the self-evident absurdity of the children of believers 
being born blessed little angels, and the children of unbelievers 
born cursed little demons. These notions also contradict chap, 
vi. sec. 3, of the Presb. Confession of Faith: Our first parents 
"being the root of all mankind . . . the same death in sin 
and corrupted nature conveyed to all their posterity, descending 
from them by ordinary generation." The Meth. Discipline: 
"We hold that all children" — a little more merciful than the 
Presbyterians, who regard only the children of believers born 
little angels — , u by virtue of the unconditional benefits of the 
atonement, are members of the kingdom of God, and therefore 
graciously entitled to baptism." Discip. M. E. Church, North, 
sec. 48. This positively contradicts Art. VII, of the Meth. Arti- 
cles of Religion : ''Original sin . . is the corruption of the na- 
ture of every man that naturally is engendered of the offspring 
of Adam." Also Sec. 481 — the ritual for infant rantism : 
"Forasmuch as all men are conceived and born in sin . . I 
beseech you to call upon God the Father, through our Lord Jesus 
Christ, that having of his bounteous mercy, redeemed this child 
by the blood of his Son, he will grant that he, being baptized with 
water may also be baptized with the Holy Ghost," etc. Again : 
u Wash him and sanctify 7? im; that he being saved by thy grace, may 
be received into Christ's Hol}^ Church." (My italics). The Rit- 
ual of the M.E. Church, South, differs from the above,by reading: 
"that he being delivered from thy wrath" instead of "that he 
being saved by thy grace." Art. VII of Religion is the same in 



226 



CAMPBELLISM REJECTS THE 



ivilderness. — Ges. Lex. and Smith's Bib. Die. Job 
likens man's nature, at the time of his birth, to the 
wild ass. He likens him thus because no amount of 
discipline and education can make him morally good — 
only God's almighty power can tame man, by the new 
creation. Yauladh means to "beget," 

"to bear, to bring forth, to deliver a woman." — 
Ges. Lex. Hence, the Hebrew expresses the two-fold 
fact that man is both begotten and born with a wild 
ass's nature. 

"Behold T was shapen in iniquity, 

both the North and the South Methodist Churches. The M. E. 
Church, South, does not contain sec. 48, of the North Church. 
The late Dr. Whedon, probably the ablest Theologian of Metho- 
dism, said : "Nor is there any more absurdity in the infant being 
regenerate between conception and birth than in his being de- 
praved at conception, or between conception and birth.'- — Sfeth. 
Quarterly Beview, Jan. 1872. The Western Christian Advocate of 
Nov. 26, 1873, commenting on these w r ords, says: "The editor 
thus states the theory of infant baptism, which in his opinion, 
most nearly accords with our best standards : 'Infants are to be 
baptized because under the atonement they are born regener- 
ate.' " Of this regeneration, the editor of the Western Chris- 
tian Advocate, in the same editorial, proceeds: "According to 
our best theological writers, and, in their opinion, according to 
Scripture teaching, it is prior to physical birth, and forth- 
with upon the new personality before brought into exist- 
ence and into the moral government of God.'' But this con- 
tradicts Art. VII of the Methodist religion ; and, also, the 
Ritual, which prays that the infant, "being baptized with water 
may also be baptized with the Holy Ghost.*' It also contradicts 
John Weslejr, who says : "If infants are guilty of original sin, 
then they are the proper subjects of baptism; seeing, in the or- 
dinary way, they can not be saved, unless this be washed away 
by baptism. . . Infants need to be washed from original sin ; 
therefore they are the proper subjects of baptism.'" — Doctrinal 
Tracts, pp. 251. 252 — Published hy Lane and, Scott, Meth B"ok 
House, 1850. Whatever way our Pedo-rantist friends attempt 
to patch up this matter it is hopelessly confused and self-con- 
tradictory. 



BIBLE DEPRAVITY. 



227 



And in sin did my mother conceive me." 

— Ps. 51:5. 

Yaukam (Drr), rendered "conceive," means "To 
be warm in lust, . . . hence, to conceive, of a 
woman." — Ges. 9 Lex. 

Chul (Wl/^n)j chyl, rendered "shapen," 
means, "pains, pang, especially of child-birth," "to 
tremble, to quake, in allusion to the trembling or shud- 
dering of a woman in travail, (Ps. 55:5)." — Ges. 9 
Lex. See its use in Isa. 23 :4 ; 54 :1 ; 66 : 7, 8. 

Auvon, rendered "iniquity," means, "wrong, per- 
verseness, wrong action, iniquity, sin, crime." — Ges. 9 
Lex. The verse would be more correctly rendered: 
"Behold I was born in iniquity, and in sin did my 
mother conceive me." The Hebrew expresses a sinful 
nature as the effect of conception and birth. Tholuck 
parenthetically renders it, "or I was gotten of sinful 
seed." Adam Clarke : "All my parts were developed in 
the womb, the sinful principle diffused itself through the 
whole, so that my body and mind grew up m a state of 
corruption and moral imperfection." — So Lange, 
The Bible Commentary , Tholuck, et al. in I. 

4. "The wicked are estranged from the womb : they 
go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies." — 
Ps. 58:3. Zur (*nr), rendered "go astray," 
means "to go off, to turn aside or away, to depart, es- 
pecially from God, from the way of truth and right." 
— Ges. 9 Lex. From it comes Zaur ( it ) 5 "a stran- 
ger, an enemy." The word also means "a foreigner, 



228 



CAMPBELL ISM REJECTS THE 



one of another family." Meerauchem (ditto), 
is made up of mem (d), from, which denotes 
6 'source," " material out of, and according to which" 
anything is formed, and of rechem ( Dm 
womb. It, therefore expresses the thought of going 
astray from the nature derived from the womb. 
Mibeten (patt), rendered "as soon," is made up 
of beten (}M), meaning "womb," and mem (ft), 
meaning "source, from, material out of which, and 
according to which anything is formed." — Ges.' Lex. 

This expression and the previous one, rendered 
"from the womb," constitute a doubled and twisted 
statement, that the wicked are wicked according to their 
prenatal nature, A literal rendering would be: "The 
wicked are estranged according to their nature from 
the womb : they go astray according to their nature 
from the womb, speaking lies. The next verse describes 
this wickedness. Commenting on this, Adam Clarke: 
" 'This,' says, Dr. Kennicott, 'and the next two 
verses, I take to be the answer of Jehovah to the ques- 
tion in the two first verses, as the 6th, 7th and 8th are 
the answer of the Psalmist,' . . . He calls the wicked 
men, men who had always been wicked, originally 
and naturally bad." Lange et al. 9 interpret it to 
mean "inborn depravity." This, and Ps. 140:3, Paul 
applies to the race of mankind. — Romans 3:10-18. 
The Wise Man, therefore, said: "Foolishness is 
bound up in the heart of a child." — Prov. 22:15. 
Quaeleth ( r6a ), rendered "foolishness," means 



BIBLE ON DEPRAVITY. 



229 



"folly, by implied impiety, wickedness/' — Ges.' 
Heb. Lex. Quatshar (n^'p), rendered "bound up" 
expresses the two-fold idea of being fast and strong — 
that is, in and to a child's heart wickedness clings 
fast and is strong. — Ges.' Lex. Heb. 

God, through Isaiah, therefore says : "I knew that 
thou wouldst deal very treacherously, and wast called 
a transgressor from the womb." — Isa. 48 :8. Pasha 
rendered transgressor, means defection, 
rebellion, transgression, sin against God. It would 
seem to be stronger than rtfon (chatauh, which 
is the word usually rendered sin.) Mibbetan, rendered 
from the womb, means according to the nature re- 
ceived from the womb. — See Ges. on mem, (ft), 
and the exposition of Ps. 58 :3 under argument ("d"). 

5. "Ye offspring of vipers."— Matt. 3 : 7 ; 12 : 34 ; 
23:33; Luke 3:7. Genneema (yivvyjuia) rendered 
generation, in all these passages, is from gennao 
(ysvmco), "to beget," "to bear, to bring lorth." 
Hence Eobinson defines genneema : "Something born 
or produced . . . offspring, progeny, Matt. 3 : 7, 
ysvsafoyta efidwv, progeny of vipers." 

Greenfield: "What is born or produced, offspring, 
progeny, brood." Bagster : "What is born or pro- 
duced, offspring, progeny, brood." Liddell and Scott : 
"That which is produced; fruit both of animals and 
plants • that which begets ; a begetting." No Lexicon 
dissents from the voice of these four, in defining 
genneema to mean the begotten, inborn nature. With 



230 



CAMPBELL ISM REJECTS THE 



the other words, of its family, viz. : genea (yened) 
genealgeomai (feveakoyeojuae), genealogia (yeveaZoyca 
genesia (jsvtoca) genetee {jever/j) genesis (ysveGtz) 
and its verb, gennao, genneema occurs 134 times in 
the New Testament ; and, in every one of these occur- 
rences, it retains its original idea of begotten or birth 
nature. See Mark 14 : 25 ; 12:18; 22:18; 2 Cor. 9:10 
where geneema is rendered fruit, with the idea that 
the fruit is of the nature of its producer. These ref- 
erences contain its only uses in the New Testament, ex- 
cept those in my proof texts. Commenting on this, 
Matt Henry : "They were a viperous brood, the off- 
spring of those that had the same spirit" — in I. 
Stier: "If ye will bring forth fruit, then first bring 
forth the tree for this."- Words of Jesus, vol. 2, p. 163. 

Bengel: "This is said in opposition to their boast- 
ing their descent from Abraham."— in I. Christ's il- 
lustration of our nature by the nature of trees, in 
Matt. 7 : 16-20, may be applied to my proof texts, as 
comments. As Bengel comments on Matt. 7 : 16 : 
"The fruit is that which a man like a tree puts forth, 
from the good or evil disposition which pervades the 
whole of his inward nature." As these trees are what 
they were when they were planted, so man is what his 
begotten nature is — geneema. 

Satan having corrupted human nature, by seducing 
our first parents, all unregenerate men are addressed 
by Jesus: "Ye are of your father, the devil, and the 
lusts of your father it is your will to do." John 8 :44. 



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Says Tholuck: "The majority of interpreters, ancient 
and modern, refer the predicate anthropoMonos 
(avOpconoTCTOvoc; — -murderer) to his seducing the first of 
mankind into sin, whereby the death (d'avaroq, tha- 
natos) was originated." — in I. This interpretation 
Tholuck vindicates. In saying we have inherited Sa- 
tan's nature, Jesus but alludes to Satan's causing the 
fall, by which, from our parents, we inherit our wick- 
ed natures. 

6. 6 ' That which is born of the flesh is flesh; that 
which is born of the Spirit is spirit." John 3:6. To 
this statement there is a large class of Scriptural par- 
allels. Such parallels are: "That the law might be 
fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh, but after 
the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind 
the things of the flesh; but they that are after the 
Spirit the things of the Spirit. For the mind of the 
flesh is death ; but the mind of the Spirit is life and 
peace : because the mind of the flesh is enmity against 
God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither 
indeed can it be: and they that are in the flesh cannot 
please God. But ye are not in the flesh, if so be that 
the Spirit of God dwelleth in you We are debt- 
ors not to the flesh to live after the flesh ; for if ye 
live after the flesh ye must die." Eom. 8 : 4-9, 12. 
In verses 4, 5, 12, 13 Kata, ( xara ) would better 
be rendered according to, instead of ' ' after," ac- 
cording to the flesh, according to the Spirit. In this 
the Bible Union is clearer than the Eevised Version . 



232 



CAMPBELLISM REJECTS THE 



Again, "make notprovision for the flesh." Rom. 13 : 
14 ; "thai no flesh should glory. "— 1 Cor. 1 :26; "Israel 
after the flesh ;" 1 Cor. 10 :18; "flesh and blood can 
not inherit the kingdom of God;" 1 Cor. 15:50; 
"filthiness of the flesh ;" 2 Cor. 7 :l;"as if we walked 
according; to the flesh;" 2 Cor, 10 :2 : "we do not war 
after (xara o'apxa Jcata-sarka , according to the flesh) 
the flesh 2 Cor. 10:3: "I conferred not with jtfes/* 
and blood;" Gal. 1:16 — "are ye now made perfect 
by the /es/i ;" Gal. 3:3— "was born after the flesh ;" 
{xaza <j'apxa 9 according to the flesh) — Gal. 4 :23, 29; 
"use not your freedom for an occasion of the flesh ;" 
Gal. 5 :13— "ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh" — 
"the flesh lusteth against the Spirit;" "the works of 
the flesh are manifest, which are fornication, unelean- 
ness, lasciviousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, 
jealousies, wraths, factions, divisions, heresies, envy- 
ings, drunkenness, revellings, and such like : but the 
fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,*' etc. ; "they 
that are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh ; Gal. 
5:16, 17, 19, 24— "he that soweth to the flesh shall of 
the flesh reap corruption ;" "to make a fair show in the 
flesh;" "that they may glory in your flesh;" Gal. 6: 12 
13 — "we also once lived in the lusts of our flesh, do- 
ing the desires of the flesh. . . . and were by nature 
(see the next argument on the word "nature," in this 
quotation), the children of wrath;" "Gentiles in the 
flesh;" Eph. 2:3-11 — "we . . .have no confidence in 
the flesh . ' ' Phil ;3 :3— < 'puffed up by his fleshly mind ' 



BIBLE OX DEPRAVITY. 



233 



"against the indulgence of the flesh ;" Col. 2 :18.23, 
—"putting away the filth of the/e$/*"-l Pet. 3 : 21.— 
"Theni that walk after (crapxoz — sarkos, genitive, 
of the flesh, i. e., of its leading) the flesh in the lust 
of defilement ;" "they entice in the lusts of the flesh 
by laseiviousness ;" 2 Pet. 2:10, 18 — "the garment 
spotted by the flesh." Jude 23. Turning to the gos- 
pels: "The flesh is weak;" Matt, 26:41, "which 
were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh 
. . . but of God;" John 1:13; "Ye judge after the 
flesh; 9 ' John 8: 15; "flesh and blood hath not re- 
vealed it, but my Father which is in heaven." Matt. 
16 : 17. Sarx (a'aps, aapx'o^) rendered "flesh" 
in all these passages, primarily, means our physical 
nature. From that, as we, through natural genera- 
tion, inherited a sinful disposition, sarx takes the sec- 
ondary meaning, sinful nature. In all the above quo- 
ted Scriptures, and in others sarx denotes the disposi- 
tion which we have by nature. Referring to the moral 
use of sarx, Robinson's Lex: "Of man's carnal na- 
ture in general, as fallen, frail, corrupt, full of weak- 
ness, and prone to error and sin . . . man's carnal 
nature, as on an active principle of corruption and sin, 
ever at war with his higher spiritual nature, as affected 
by the spirit of grace through faith." So Greenfield's, 
Bagster's, et. ah Of sarJcikos (aapxrxoc:) another 
form of sarx, Robinson's and other Lexicons: 
"Implying weakness, proneness to sin . . . carnal 
and sinful desires and affections." So sarhinos (adp- 



234 



CAMPBELLI8M REJECTS THE 



^voc), another form of sarx : ' 'Implying weakness, 
frailty, proneness to sin; of persons carnal and world- 
ly/' — The Lexicons. "We have sarJcikos "carnal" 
and "fleshly," in the following quotations: "For ye 
are yet carnal . . . there is among you jealousy, strife, 
are ye not carnal;" "beloved, I beseech you ... to 
abstain from fleshly lusts." 1 Cor. 3 :3,4 ;1 Pet. 2 :11. 

SarJcinos, is rendered "carnal" the following quo- 
tations : "I am carnal, sold under sin ;" "I could not 
speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal." 
Rom. 7:14; 1 Cor. 3:1 ;f Sarx, being taken from 
the nature with which we are born, when used in its 
ethical sense, can but denote the ethical nature with 
which we are born. Being born with an evil nature, 
sarx is used to denote our evil disposition. In all the 
many quotations, above quoted, sarx clearly means 
our evil natures : in its ethical use, it is never, in the 
New Testament, used for a holy nature. Let the 
reader not be led into error by the Scriptures and 
Lexicons using it also for our physical nature, when 
not ethically speaking. I repeat, when ethically used, 
as in the above many quotations, sarx always denotes 
our evil nature, with which we are born. 

Our Savior, therefore, said : "That which is born of 
flesh is flesh." Eef erring to these words of our Lord 
Harless says: "The necessity of regeneration is 
pointed out by Christ Himself. . . For in dapZ sarx 

t I here use the Greek Text in Noveum Tesiamentum, Grace, 
Editio Septima Critica Minor, by Teschendorf. 



BIBLE ON DEPRAVITY. 



235 



— that is, in his nature, as he receives it at the birth 
of the body, is established that connection with his 
species by reason of which his mixed spiritual and cor- 
poreal organization — this indissolubly united natural 
basis of his soul's life — is degenerate. Far from the 
truth as it would be to identify that which is called 
flesh with the body and bodily existence, it were 
equally wrong to separate this nature from its corpo- 
real connection with the race, and to attribute it en- 
tirely to the soul, which has no existence except in 
connection with the life of the body.f But since the 
nature is of mixed spiritual— corporeal existence is 
brought about by corporeal birth, the degeneration of 
this nature likewise can only come to light both in the 
affections which attach themselves to the spiritual and 
soul portion, and those which belong to the corporeal 
and sensuous. And in regard to this two-fold 
tendency, the basis of these affections is, as our inborn 
and degenerate nature, called the flesh . . . But since 
all this has for its source an inborn and corrupt basis 
in our nature, the most diverse errors of a corporeal 
and sensuous kind, as well as those belonging to the 
soul and spirit, are called in one and the same line 
works of the flesh." Gal. 5:19) — System of Chris- 
tian HJthics pp. 237, 238. On p. 183, Harless says, 
referring to the same Scripture: "The avcodev" 
(anothen, from above, rendered "again" in John 3:3, 

t That is, no present or earthly " existence, " without the 
earthly body. 



236 



CAMPBELLISM BEJECTS THE 



in the Com. Ver., "anew" in the Kevised.) "(Comp. 
deuTspov — the second of Mcodemus, John 3: 4) 
points out, like the dvd — ana — again, and ndhv 
— palin — , again, the position of this birth in relation 
to the first birth into the natural life, as beginning over 
again from the commencement, a second birth. The 
first, as the birth of the flesh, forms the contrast to 
the birth of the Spirit (ro yzyzvvi±kvov ex xrfi aapxoz — 
to gegenneemenon eh tees sarJcos"\ — of John 3: 6 — the 
born of the flesh. The new birth from God is a crea- 
tive act — a xvc^eeu ; — htizein — creation — % and its 
immedia'e result affects the spiritual life of the 
whole man, inasmuch as he is thereby made partaker 
of a new vital energy — a new principal of life — which 
is able to guide the ethical tendency of his nature in 
conformity to the will of God (xaza 6e6v,—kata Theon 
according to God) because it is from God (sx deou — 
ek Theou, of God). For this reason the regenerate 
one is called a new creature — a new man." On page 
182, Harless quotes from Martin Luther: "For birth 
is the beginning of the whole life and of the whole 
man, who works not for this, that he may be born, but 
is first born to the end that he may work." "He who 
belongs to the kingdom of God and heaven must first 
have come into existence,before he begins to do works 

fThese Greek quotations, for the English reader, I put in En- 
glish letters and translate. 

JHe alludes to Eph. 2 .10, 15: 4:24, where ktizein — created, is 
used to denote the act ot regenerating. 



BIBLE ON DEPBAVITY. 



237 



pleasing unto God." Commenting on our Lord's 
words, in John 3: 5,6, Tholuck: "First. The ne- 
cessity is once more confirmed, then the nature 
by the birth is explained- — the same antithesis as 
in chapter 1 :13. By the statement of the begetting 
principle, the mode of generation is also charac- 
terized." "From the act of begetting on the natural 
side of humanity, originates a product, in which nature 
preponderates, and which, first by a new act of grace 
from above, becomes genuine spirit" Stier : " To 
yeyevvrj/jLevov" to gegenneemenon, the born — with its 
definite article expresses the widest universality, makes 
it plain that man as such, and every man is intended. 
... It is not 7rac 6 ytyzwrjixho^ — pas ho gegen- 
neemenos, every one born — ver. 8, but more em- 
phatically and definitely in the neuter ; and thus is as- 
serted that the most important and incontrovertible 
princible, which holds good also in the higher and low- 
er orders of the creature, and in all nature ; that every- 
thing born is in its true quality just what its source 
and original is — from flesh only flesh can come, and 
from Spirit only spirit; from the earth, only the 
earthly ; and from heaven the heavenly ; from corrupt- 
ed man, only corrupt humanity, and from the Holy 
God only that which is holy and meek for His king- 
dom. . . . Nay, it is yet stronger : that which 
Yeyevvyf/evov, gegenneemenon — born, is altogether 
flesh, flesh once more like that which is born. 
Further, it is a reply to the f oolish objection of Nico- 



238 



CAMPBELLISM KEJECTS THE 



demus — even if a man be born of his mother's womb 
a second time, what would he be but the same flesh 
again ? Without the Spirit the new life would be just 
like the former one over again. There are two births, 
and the former is only one of them; the second is 
strictly another, distinct and opposite birth. . . . He 
illustrates the idea of the new birth by the similitude 
of the former ; but the birth of the Spirit by contrast 
with it. . • . That which is born of the flesh is, in 
the very first beginnings of its existence, on that very 
account, nothing but flesh, even before it has become 
the man who is born: it is born in guilt, conceived in 
sin, mortal, flesh. . . . The impersonal neuter 
points to the hidden beginnings (to w T hich the evange- 
list had referred in his antithesis, chapter 1 :13), just 
as they are indicated in Luke 1 :35 ; Matt. 1 :20. But, 
pointing forward also, it inexorably includes every per- 
sonality of man, all that is born of woman by the w T ill 
of man, and the entire man, just as he is born, so that 
there is nothing in him which does not lie in the decree 
— this is flesh born of flesh ! . * . All the love of the nat- 
ural human spirit is now selfishness or caprice : all its 
strength, skill and power is simply impotence, as it 
probably regards the one object of its return to God ; 
all its science and wisdom mere folly and blindness in 
things which are divine and heavenly. Let no one 
condemn this as a hard saying and inflexible dog- 
matic ; it is the solemn, clear and merciful testimony 
of the only begotten Son of God. . . . He descended, 



BIBLE OjST DEPRAVITY. 



239 



indeed, into human nature from heaven as the Son of 
Man, through the operation of the Holy Spirit in Mary, 
His mother, and, according to His higher nature, is 
ever not only in the kingdom of heaven, but in heaven 
itself. — v. 13." — Words of Jesus, vol. 4, pp. 400— 
402. 

As to His humanity, being begotten of the Holy 
Spirit, Jesus inherited a holy nature. Matt. 1:20; 
Luke 1:35. So, alluding to original sin as the basis 
of a sinful life, and speaking of the new nature, which 
L begotten of the Spirit, as the basis of a righteous 
life, John says: 6 'Whosoever is begotten of God 
doeth no sin, because his seed abideth in him : and he 
cannot sin because he is begotten of God." I John 3 :9. 
Adam Clarke, Bengel, Olshausen. Matt. Henry, Scott, 
and Doddridge interpret John 1 :5 as do Steir. I know 
of no exception among scholarly, candid exegetes. 
There is yet another clear point expressed in ' 'that 
which is born of the flesh is flesh," which I must no- 
tice, revvaco — gennao — rendered born, means, es- 
pecially, beget. Robinson's Lexicon: "To beget, to 
bear, to bring forth, to be born, to be brought into 
life, to come into life, as from parents generally." 
So Greenfield's, Bagster's Liddel's, and Scott's, et al 
Lexicons. Our common version renders it begat, be- 
gotten in the following places : Matt. 1:2, 3,4, 5, 6, 
7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 ; Acts 7 :8, 29 ; 13 :33; 
I Cor. 4: 15; Philemon 10; Heb. 1:5; I John 5:1, 
18. In Matt. 1 :20 it renders it "conceived ;" Gal. 4 ; 



240 



CAMPBELLISM REJECTS THE 



24, gendereth — meaning beget; 2 Tim. 2:23, "gen- 
der ;" Heb. 11 :12, "sprang" — in the sense of begot- 
ten. Everywhere the Common Version renders it 
born. The revised, renders it begotten ; elsewhere the 
two versions render it alike In but very few of its 
occurrences, in the New Testament, does gennao, in 
connection with being born, exclude begetting. So, as 
w r e have seen, are its derivatives used. Tcxto — tikto 
is used in the New Testament eighteen times for 
"born," but as it does not mean beget, it is never used 
ethically ; which is very significant, in favor of gennao 
meaning beget, as well as born, when ethically used. 
That gennao includes begetting, in John 3 :5, is certain, 
from the fact that mere birth cannot generate or make 
''flesh"— sinful disposition ; nor could mere spiritual 
birth make "spirit" — a righteous disposition. They 
are the natures which are begotten— -the natures that 
make the two lives — "flesh" and "spirit" Nothing 
can, therefore, be more certain than that Jesus said 
we are begotten in the birth of the flesh, "flesh" and 
begotten, in the birth of the Spirit, "Spirit." In the 
first begetting, is begotten, original — inbred sin; in 
the second, is original — inbred righteousness. In John 
3 :5 gennao means both begotten and born; but espe- 
cially and significantly, begotten. John 3:5, there- 
fore, with its numerous parallels, most forcibly ex- 
presses original sin. It is the key-note of instruction 
and warning to mankind. Without regeneration we 
are only "flesh" in thought, "flesh" in feeling "flesh" 



BIBLE ON DEPRAVITY. 



241 



in will, ' 'flesh in life ; and, as ' 'flesh," perish in the 
death of deaths. Eegenerated, we are ' 'Spirit" in 
thought, "Spirit" in feeling, "Spirit" in will," 
"Spirit" in life, "Spirit" in glory, forever and ever. 
All of this from begetting only. Reader, what are 
you? 

The words ^uytxb^ avdpono^ — pseukikos anthropos, 
"natural man," expresses original sin: I Cor. 2:14; 
James. 3 :15, 19. Psukikos is from pseukee (^^') 
which means the "soul," that is the animal life, which 
unites the spirit and the body. Literally rendered, 
psukikos anthropos is the soul or animal man. That 
it means the life or nature with which we were begot- 
ten and born, is beyond a shadow of dispute. Our 
translators, probably, rendered psukikos by the word 
"natural" because it denotes our nature, begotten and 
born, which is adapted to the earthly life, and which, 
by the fall, is corrupt. Before the fall, it was natural 
only in the sense of adaptation to the earthly life ; 
since the fall, it is natural in a consequently additional 
and derivative sense — that of sin as a part of our na- 
ture. Hence, in the following passages, James and 
Jude use psukikos for "sensual." This wisdom is not 
a wisdom that cometh down from above, but is earth- 
ly, sensual, devilish ; "these are they who make separa- 
tions, sensual, having not the Spirit." James 3:15 ; 
Jude 19. That is, they have not the begotten, inborn, 
righteous nature, which is from above; but the begot- 
ten, inborn wickedness which is from below — "earth- 



242 



CAMPBELLISM REJECTS THE 



Zy," "sensual." To the same intent: "The natural 
man — pseukikos anthropos — receiveth not the things of 
the Spirit of God," etc. Inasmuch as psukee and 
psukikos deno'e that with which we are born, and nev- 
er anything else, pseukikos anthropos — the natural 
man — is the one who is born the psukikos anthropos. 
Defining psukikos, Robinson's Lexicon says: "Per- 
taining to the natural man, mind and affections, sway- 
ed by the affections and passions of human na- 
ture." James, in calling sinners ipuj} 7 *]-* Scu[iovcd>dr^ 
(psukikee daimoniodees) — sensual, demonish, alludes 
to two things: first, the nature of man; second, to 
that nature, as through the fall, captivated, corrupted, 
and fathered by the devil. See John 8 :44 : "Ye are 
of your father, the devil, and the lusts of your father 
ye will do." It is, in every sense, the very opposite 
to nveufiazcxo^, pneumatikos, spiritual. — 2 Cor. 2:13, 
14, 15, 3:1, etc. 

(8) "We were by nature — <fU(Ts: 9 phusei — the 
children of wrath." — Eph. 2:3. Liddells' and Scotts' 
Lex. defines phusis : "The nature, that is, the essence, 
inborn quality, property or constitution of a person 
or thing . . . one's natural born powers, parts, tem- 
per, disposition . . . nature as a product and generative 
power." Bagster's: "Essence, native condition, birth; 
native species, kind; nature, natural frame, nature, 
native instinct; nature, prescribed course of nature." 
Greenfields': "Procreative power; birth, origin, na- 
tivity ; nature, i. e. the order of nature, the regular 



BIBLE OF DEPRAVITY. 



243 



constitution and course of things, the law of nature ; 
hence xara (puacvkata phusin — according to nature, and 
Trapd <pu<T:v — para phusin — contrary to nature ; d napa 
cpuacvjio para phusin — unnatural ; nature 9 essence, native 
qualities, instinct, propensity, spoken of a native feel- 
ing of decorum, a native sense of propriety, by impl. 
a kind, sort, species. " 

Kobinson's: "Nature, natural source, origin, gener- 
ation, birth, descent ... a nature as generated, pro- 
duced, naturally existing, a being, genus, kind ; the 
nature of any person or thing, the natural constitu- 
tion, the innate disposition and qualities. Of persons 
in a moral sense, the native mode of thinking, feeling, 
acting, as unenlightened by the influence of divine 
truth." It is from cpuco — pliuo^ "to generate, to 
produce, to bring forth to let grow, e. g. plants, . . 
to be generated, produced, to spring up, to grow ; . . . 
of persons, to be born, to grow up, to be by nature." 
— Rob's, et. al. Lexs. From phuo, and as sisters to 
p7iusis 9 are (puveca—phuteia, plant, (Matt. 15:13) 
and (poreco — phuteo, to plant, (Matt. 15 :13 ; 21 :33 ; 
Mark 12:1; Luke 13:6; 17 : 6,28 ; 20 :9 ; 1 Cor. 3 : 
6,7,8 ; 9:7.) So neither the root of phusis nor its sis- 
ters is, or ever are used but for the seed, seeding, that 
which has grown from, and corresponds to the seed ; 
nor is there an instance where phusis can be made to 
exclude the generated quality of nature. The follow- 
ing 14 instances are the only occurrences of phusis in 
the New Testament : "Into that which is against na- 



244 



CAMPBELLISM REJECTS THE 



ture ;" "do by nature the things;" "uncircumcision 
which is by nature ;" ' 'If God spared not the natural 
branches;" 6 6 out of the olive tree which is wild by 
nature , and wert grafted in contrary to nature into 
. . . these which be the natural branches ;" "doth not 
even nature itself teach you;" "Jews by nature-" 
"which by nature are no gods;" "and were by na- 
ture the children of wrath ;" "Every hind of beasts ;" 
"man-HracZ ;" "partakers of the divine nature.'" — 
Eom. 1 :26 ; 2 :14,27 ; 11 :21,24 ; 1 Cor. 11 :14 ; Gal. 
2:15; 4:8; Eph. 2:3; Jas. 3:7; 2 Pet. 1:4. The 
words which are in italics, in these quotations, are the 
renderings of phusis. The English reader can, for 
himself, see that in every case in which the word is 
used, in the New Testament, it means generated qual- 
ity or kind. 

Scott: "Great pains, . . . have been employed to 
prove that 4 by nature' may signify custom or habit- 
ual practice. But the attempt has been evidently baf- 
fled in the critic d argument. At the same time, stub- 
born facts prove that . . . the children of believers 
are as prone to evil and averse to good, as those of 
idolaters." — in I. Matt. Henry, another Presbyte- 
rian : "Nature not only by custom and invitation, but 
from the time we begin to exist, and by reason of 
our natural inclinations and appetites." — in. I. 
Olshausen, on phusei meaning a nature corrupted by 
life, after birth, well says: "This view of man's sinful 
nature, as produced in every individual by personal 



BIBLE ON DEPRAVITY. 



245 



guilt is refuted by (puaec . . . <pvoc£ cannot, with- 
out violence, be understood otherwise than as the Latin 
natura, of what is original, innate, in opposition to 
what has been acquired by practice." — in I. 

Calvin : "By nature, i.e., from the very origin and 
womb of the parent." — Comp. Com. So Hodge, Har- 
less, Olshausen, Ruckert, the Bible Commentary, 
Doddridge, Bloomfield, et. al. 

Muller : "But St. Paul most fully and clearly de- 
scribes this inborn uncleanness, as influencing man's 
relation to God, in his Epistle to the Ephesians, 2:3. 
Such texts as John 3 :36 ; Rom. 3 :19, imply that pre- 
vious to man's decision, either for or against Christ, 
there is something in him which incurs God's wrath. 
Other texts of Scripture affirm the universality of sin, 
and show that it is a defilement from the very begin- 
ning of his life.' '-Christian Doctrine of Sin, Yol. 2, p. 
279. Says Muller, of Meyer : "He speaks of an inborn 
principle of sin in man, which in its development over- 
comes his moral will." — Quoting from Meyer 9 s 
Kritisch exeget Handbuch uber den brief an die JEph- 
eser, pp. 86,87, 3d ed. 

Here it may be well to notice an objection : It is 
objected that Matt. 18 :6 ; 19 :14, mean "unconscious" 
or very young infants ; and therefore teaches that in- 
fants are born morally pure. To this I reply, first, this, 
certainly, cannot be the right interpretation, since it 
would make these Scriptures positively contradict the 
Scriptures which clearly teach the contrary. This 



246 



CAMPBELLISM REJECTS THE 



alone is sufficient to remove the objection, supposed to 
be derived from these Scriptures, against inherited de- 
pravity. The doctrine of innate depravity does not 
depend on the correctness of the explanation which I 
will give to these Scriptures ; for that is established be- 
yond a reasonable doubt. But, second, part, at least, 
of these Scriptures speak of such infants as were old 
enough to repent, believe, and become members of the 
church — they were church members. Elsewhere, Jesus 
speaks of these ''little ones" as believers — Matt. 10: 
42; and of them, in Matt. 18 : 1-6, and Mark 9:42, 
and Luke 9:46-48, He says: ''Whoso shall cause 
these little ones which believe in me to stumble." The 
receiving, so often used as an argument for receiving, 
baptizing sucking infants into the church, therefore, 
clearly refers to receiving only such children as are 
old enough to repent and believe. Says Adam Clarke : 
"But this child could walk, for he called him to him. 
. . . 'Whosoever will receive/ i.e., show unto such a 
child-like, unambitious disciple of mine, any act of 
kindness for my sake." — On Matt. 18:2,5. Barnes; — 
" 'Whoso shall receive.' That is, whoso will 
receive and love one with a spirit like this child — one 
who is humble, meek, unambitious, or a real Christian. 
.... The word receive means to approve, love, 

treat with kindness ; to aid in time of need 

'Whoso shall offend.' That is, cause to fall or to sin; 
or who should place anything in the way to hinder 
their piety and usefulness. 'These little ones.' That 



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is, Christians manifesting the spirit of little children." 
— On Matt. 18, 5, 6. Matthew Henry, Scott, G. W. 
Clarke and Stier call attention to this as a repetition of 
the receiving of Chap. 10:40-42, where it is certain 
that believers are the ones to be received. 

As to Matt. 19 :14, there is nothing there forbidding 
us from understanding that they were old enough 
to repent and believe. Taking them in His arms is no 
evidence that they were too young to repent and be- 
lieve ; for Baptist preachers baptize — as I heard Dr. 
Williams, of Baltimore, say that he had done — chil- 
dren so little that they carry them into the water. Nor 
does this word "infants," in Luke 18:15-17, exclude 
one of such age ; for /3/>e^oc — BrepJws, in 2 Tim. 
3 : 15 is rendered "child," and designates Timothy, 
when he was old onough to understand the Sacred 
Writings. As to the words "young children," in 
Mark 10 :13, it is a rendering of nacdta — paidia, which, 
in Matt. 18 :2, 3, 4, 5, means a Christian — believing 
child ; in Mark 5 :39, 40, 41, one near of age — "dam- 
sel ;" in Luke 7 :32 ; John 4 :49, it means large chil- 
dren ; and in John 21 :5 ; 1 John 2 :13, 18, persons of 
age. If these were sucking infants, or very near 
such, Jesus meant to use their willingness to trust 
their parents as illustrating how humbly we must trust 
Him. A little child, until deceived, will believe any- 
thing a parent may tell it. So Barnes, Bengel, G. W. 
Clarke, in substance, comment. It may, also, allude 
to the glorious fact that heaven will be made up mostly 



248 



CAMPBELLISM REJECTS THE 



of redeemed, regenerate infants. Infants, dying before 

the age of accountability, are, doubtless, washed in the 

blood of Jesus, so that they will not become sinners in 

glory. When we consider that the greater part of the 

race die in infancy, this appears a glorious truth. 

Muller rightly says that Matt. 18 :l-6; 19 :13,14, and 

its parallels do not teach that children are born pure. — 

Christian Doctrine of Sin, Vol. 2, p. 267. 

From the f oregoino; arguments, it is certain that innate 

depravity is plainly expressed in both the Old and the 

New Testaments; not only this, but it runs through and 

underlies the whole scriptural doctrine of salvation. The 

universal Savior is necessitated by the universally and 

hopelessly depraved and lost condition of men. And 

this condition of men can be caused and accounted for 

only by universally inherited depravity. As good Dr. 

Watts expressed it : — 

" Lord, I am vile, — conceived in sin, 
And "born unholy and unclean ; 
Sprung from the man whose guilty fall 
Corrupts the race, and taints us all, 
Soon as we draw our infant breath, 
The seeds of sin grow up in death; 
Thy law demands a perfect heart; 
But we're denied in every part. 
O Lord, I fall before Thy face ; 
My only refuge is Thy grace : 
No outward forms can make me clean ; 
The leprosy lies deep within." 

II. Tlie Scriptures clearly teach that our nature is 
totally depraved. 

1. Total depravity is a part and consequent of inher- 
ited depravity. Psychologists analyze mind, into the 



BIBLE ON DEPRAVITY. 



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understanding, the feelings and the will. These are 
the three parts— "all" the parts of the moral or spirit- 
ual man. These, by birth, man equally inherits. By 
birth, these are equally depraved. Hence, as theolo- 
gians say: "Man is depraved in all his parts" ; totally 
— that is, the "sum total" of the parts of man is de- 
praved. Inasmuch as the three parts of man are in- 
herited, all those fearful descriptions of sarx — "flesh" 
— psukiJcos anthropos — "natural man," phusei — "na- 
ture" are applicable to him, as totally depraved. 

2. Inasmuch as man is totally lost, he is totally de- 
praved. Nowhere do the Scriptures state or imply 
that either the understanding, the affections or the 
will, is on the side of God, previous to regeneration. 
Nowhere do the Scriptures say or imply that either 
the understanding, the affections, or the will does not 
need regeneration. Nowhere do the Scriptures say or 
imply that either the understanding, the affections 
or the will does not need a Savior. According to 
Campbellism, one of the three parts of man does not 
need regeneration and a Savior. As God must send 
the bad to hell, the good to heaven, according to Camp- 
bellism, it would follow that a part of each one who 
dies without repentance, would be sent to hell and a 
part to heaven! According to Campbellism, in case 
of repentance, in the "good world," the part of 
man which is not depraved would have no thanks to 
the blood that cleansed, but would walk in its own robe 
and light, and wear its own crown ! According to 



250 



CAMPBELLISM REJECTS THE 



Campbellism, where, in the case of the finally impeni- 
tent, part of man is sent to hell, all of him that is tak- 
en to heaven would sing: 4 'Unto myself — the part 
that is not lost — be glory, honor, dominion, etc!'* 
Thus, according to Campbellism, part of man loves 
God, serves Him with the very holiness with which 
Christ Himself loved and lived ! As Campbeilites so 
much object to the expressions "total," "depraved in 
all his parts," they must have applied Alexander 
Campbell's glass so closely to man as to be able to tell 
us which part of man is not depraved, which part of him 
needs no regeneration, and will walk in its own robe 
and its own light, in heaven. In the case of the lost, 
they must be able to tell us which part of man will be 
sent to hell and which to heaven ? Campbellites can- 
not weaken the force of this, by the assertion that, 
"man is judged as a whole." This is true ; and it is a 
sword that cuts towards the one who uses it. Why? 
Simply because God damns or approves man as a 
whole, for the very reason that he is totally lost or 
totally saved. He cannot call evil good, or good evil, 
which, if man were not totally depraved, would be the 
case, in His totally condemning man, here and here- 
after. This, alone, makes the attempt of Campbellism, 
to find righteousness yet in the natures and lives of the 
unregenerate, worse than the white-washing of the sep- 
ulchres by the ancients. "Oh!" you say, "we do not 
mean that some part of man is as good as God, needs 
no regeneration, no Savior, and all these conclusions 



BIBLE OX DEPRAVITY. 



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which you have drawn." Yes, but, in denying total 
depravity you do say it. That part of man which "is 
not depraved" is as pure as all of Jesus which was 
not depraved. Swallow your doctrine without strain- 
ing : or, fall at the cross and cry : — 

" And there may I. though vile as he 
"Wash all my sins away." 

3. If man is not totally depraved, the Scriptures 
would qualifiedly speak of him as a sinner; Jput they 
do not so speak. All the passages, quoted under the 
proof of innate depravity, unqualifiedly condemn the 
sarx — "flesh" — the psukikos anthropos — the "natural 
man"; and they affirm that that which is "born of 
the flesh is flesh" — "flesh" in understanding, "flesh" 
in feeling, "flesh" in will, — "flesh" in the whole of 
life, and nothing but "flesh." In Eom. 8 :5, 6, it is 
not said that a part of the "mind of the flesh" is 
wrono' and "in enmity against God;" but the state- 
ment is made with no qualification — all of it wrong, 
all of it "enmity against God." It is not said, in 
Eph. 2:3, that they partly walked in sin, and that 
they were partly "by nature the children of wrath :" 
but the statements are made with no qualification. 
Jesus does not say — John 8:44 — ye are partly of your 
father, the devil, and part of his lusts ye will do ; but, 
He says: "Ye are of your father, the devil, and the 
lusts of your father it is your will to do." 

4. That man is totally depraved is evident from his 
being a child of the devil — fathered by the devil of 



252 



CAMPBELLISM REJECTS THE 



the same moral nature, and, without salvation, des- 
tined to the same hell to which the devil is destined. 
There are three Scriptures w 7 hich are perverted into 
proof that God is the father of all men. The first is, 
the expression in the Lord's prayer, "Our Father." — 
Matt. 6 :9. But Jesus did not teach unregenerate men 
to pray that prayer. To teach any unregenerate per- 
son, young or old, to repeat that prayer, is a wrong to 
that person and a sin against God. 

The second proof, that unregenerate persons are 
children of God, is from perverting the parable of the 
prodigal son. Luke 15 :ll-32. The parable was not 
designed to teach that all sinners were once in God's 
house, — they never w T ere, save when in Adam — that 
He was once their Father. The design of the parable 
was to rebuke the Jews for murmuring against Him 
for receiving "sinners" — See Trench on Parables, p. 
336, et. al. See the use of parables explained in the 
previous chapter under "1" of "Objections" — in an- 
swer to the first Campbellite objection to the time 
when the kingdom was set up. 

The third proof, that all men are children of, God is 
from perverting the words, "for we are also his off- 
spring . . . Being then the offspring of God." — 
Acts 17:28, 29. To this I reply : /svoc (genos), 
rendered offspring ( 1 ) cannot be taken to denote the 
close relation of child to parent without making it 
contradict the Scriptures which declare that all unre- 
generate persons are children of the Devil, that no 



BIBLE ON DEPRAVITY. 



253 



human being, except by regeneration and adoption, is 
a child of God. (2) Genos is used in different senses ; 
hence, it does not, necessarily, denote here, the rela- 
tion of child to parent. Robinson's Lex: "Genos, a 
race, stock, lineage, in various senses and modifications 
e. g. offspring, posterity . . a family, kindred, stock, 
. . . a kind, sort, genus." Liddell and Scott's Lex. 
"Genos, race, stock, descent, noble as ek Ithakees ge- 
nos eimi, (sf Iddrrj^ jvjoc, etfit) I am of the stock of 
Itkica. Theion genos einai, (dscov yivo$ €ivat) to be of 
divine stock, a people, nation, race, an age, a genera- 
tion, time of life, sex, gender, kind, genus ... a 
division of the citizens of Athens, a clan." Thus 
the word is used in many senses. It does not come 
from gennao (jevdo), to beget, but from geno, gino- 
mai (yhco, ytyvopai), "to become, to happen, next 
to be born." — Liddell and Scott. Hence, genos pri- 
marily signifies to come into existence : secondarily, 
and then, in a variety of senses, it signifies stock or 
race descent. In the New Testament genos occurs 21 
times. It is rendered : 6 ' kind, "—Matt. 13 :47 ; 17 :21 ; 
Mark 9 :29 ; 1 Cor. 12 : 10— "nation,"— Mark 7 :26 ; 
Gal. 1:14; "kindred,"— Acts, 4:6; 7 :13,19— "off- 
spring,"— Acts 17 : 28,29 ; Eev. 22 :16 ;— "birth," 

"born,"— Acts 18 : 2,24— "stock," Acts 13 : 26 ; 

Philem. 3 :9— "generation," — 1 Pet. 2 :9 ; "nation," — 
Mark 7:26; Gil. 1:14; "country,"— Acts 4 : 36 ; "di- 
versities," — 1 Cor. 12:28. Thus, we see that, in 
both Classic and New Testament Greek, by both its 



254 



CAMPBELLISM REJECTS THE 



derivation and its usage, genos does not primarily 
mean "offspring." The Greek poet, whom Paul cites, 
did not understand that God is our Father in any such 
a sense as that He generates us ; nor did Paul, by cit- 
ing him, mean to contradict what he elsewhere says, 
that we are "flesh," by nature, and "the children of 
God by faith in Christ Jesus."— Eom. 8:5-17; Gal. 
2:26. "Offspring" is an erroneous rendering of the 
passage. It means that we were created with the 
sense of understanding, feeling, willing, and with a 
nature to know right and wrong — with a "moral" na- 
ture—in the image of God ; and that to Him we owe 
our origin and our continuance. It means that, and 
nothing else. In the sense of dependence on Him for 
our being: Sk in Him we live, and move, and have our 
being." We do not read that, even, the poor heathen 
were so blind as to meet Paul with this use of "genos' 9 
and, thereby, claim that it rendered being brought in_ 
to God and Christ and becoming "children of God by 
faith in Christ Jesus" unnecessary. Had Paul here 
used either teknon (rixvov) paidion (nacd'tov} whyos 
(uloz) brephos (fipedoQ ) there would have been more 
seeming plausibility in an argument, deduced from 
Acts 17:28,29, to prove that God is our spiritual 
Father. Even had Paul here used either teJcnon, 
why os, brephos, or paidion to prevent making the pass- 
age conflict with numerous other Scriptures w 7 hich, 
plainly, reveal the contrary, we would have to seek 
some distant or secondary use of the word. 



BIBLE ON DEPRAVITY. 



255 



(3) As intimated in the last argument, the Scrip- 
tures declare that we are not the children of God be- 
fore we are regenerated, and adopted, (a) The argu- 
ment, previously set forth, that, by natural genera- 
tion, we are only children of the 6 6 flesh, makes it 
evident that we cannot be the children of the 
"Great Spirit" until begotten by Him. (b) This 
is evident from our not being " partakers of 
the divine nature" until we are born again. Says 
Peter: "He hath granted unto us his precious and 
exceeding great promises, that through these ye 
may become partakers of the divine nature." — 2 Pet. 
1 :4. If naturally children of God, we w T ould partake 
of His nature, from our birth, (c) That we are not 
children of God before the new birth is evident from 
only Christians being called Christ's spiritual breth- 
ren. "For both he that sanctifieth and they that are 
sanctified are all of one : for which cause he is not 
ashamed to call them brethren ." — Heb. 2 : 11, 12, 13. 
This, as the reader will see from the context, is said 
of only Christians, (d) That we are not children of 
God by natural birth is evident from our being "joint 
heirs" with Christ only after the second birth. Of 
Christians, Paul says: "We are children of God: and 
if children, then heirs ; heirs of God and joint heirs 
with Christ" — Rom. 8:17. Now^here does God's 
word declare that His spiritual children are disin- 
herited. Hence this passage, impliedly, declares that 
only the Christian is a child of God. (v) That we 



256 



CAMPBELLISM REJECTS THE 



are not, naturally, children of God is evident from 
only those being children of God who are 6 'led by the 
Spirit of God." "For as many—just "as many" 
and no more — "as are led by the Spirit of God, these 
are the sons of God." Kom. 8:15. (f) That we arc 
not, naturally, children of God is revealed in that only 
the children of God can feel to cry, "Abba father." 
Kom. 8: 15. Abba ho pateer (Afifta 6 navqp)* "our 
father" is Chaldaic, Abba(ys&) meaning, father, and 
Greek, pateer, meaning father. Literally rendered, 
Abba ho pateer is Father, the Father. Adam Clarke 
quotes a Hebrew law: "Men servants and maid ser- 
vants do not call their master abba (xn«) nor their 
mistress (kepk) ima — mother. Tholuck, Ambrose, 
Origen, Theodoret say that pateer is added to Abba as 
an explanation ; "and the reason for preferring the 
Chaldaic for the paternal name is that it sounds more 
child- like." in I. Augustine, Calvin, say that the 
double expression w T as to indicate that Gentile and 
Jew could join in saying Abba. Whichever of these 
interpretations we adopt teaches that only children can 
look up to God and truly say, "Father." "For we 
have not received the spirit of bondage again unto 
fear" — before we receive the Spirit of Christ we look 
on God not as Father, but as Master, with the lash on 
our backs, we having no love for Him (v. 7) and re- 
garding Him as hating us ; so every sinner feels — "but 
ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we 
cry, Abba Father." — Rom, 8:15, Were we by na- 



BIBLE ON DEPRAVITY. 



257 



ture children of God we would feel to say "Abba 
Father, " without the "spirit of adoption." "The 
regenerated man, by virtue of his direct entrance upon 
the life of God, is really become of divine extraction, 
and a being after his own kind."-. Tholuch on v. 14. 
(g) That we are not children of God, previous to re- 
generation, is evident from our having no part with 
them in God's kingdom, either here or hereafter. 
"Except a man be born anew, he cannot see the king- 
dom of God." — John 3:3. "Thou hast neither part 
nor lot in this matter ; for thy heart is not right before 
God."— Acts 8 :21. "I send thee to open their eyes, 
that they may turn from darkness to light, and from 
the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive 
remission of sin and inheritance among them that are 
sanctified by faith in me." — Acts 26:17, 18. (h) That 
we are not children of God previous to being Chris- 
tians, is evident from our being "aliens" to God's fam- 
ily and kingdom, and "afar off." "Separate from 
Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, 
and strangers from the covenant of promise, having no 
hope, and without God in the world." — Eph. 2: i2 ; 4 : 
18; Col, 1:21. An alien to any government has no 
power in it. Here unregenerate persons are declared 
to be, first, separate from Christ in feeling, nature, 
state, destiny; second, alienated, having no part in 
God's family and kingdom ; third, strangers, that is, 
having not the acquaintance in the family and the 
kingdom of God — that even the prodigal son had — for 



258 



CAMPBELLISM REJECTS THE 



he did have acquaintance there, even when feeding 
swine; fourth, "without God," or any kind of pos- 
session or title from Him ; fifth, therefore, "having 
no hope/' Certainly, such persons cannot claim that 
they have God as their Father ! (i) That unregener- 
ate men are not children of God, is clear from their be- 
ing "the sons of disobedience." — Eph. 2:2. Ane'tOeta 
(apithia), rendered "disobedience", means "unper- 
suaded, unbelief, disobedience." — Robinson's et al., 
Lexs. In Rom. 11:32; Heb. 4:6, 11, it is rendered 
"unbelief", and in Eph. 2:6; 5:6; Col. 3:6, it is 
rendered disobedient. The Eevised Version, every- 
where, renders it "disobedience." The word charac- 
terizes the unregenerate as children of the very spirit 
of disobedience, and here and in Rom. 8 :7 they are 
declared to be of this spirit of disobedience by birth 
— "flesh," "by nature." Certainly, then, unless God 
is "disobedience," unregenerate men are not His chil- 
dren, (j) That unregenerate men are not children 
of God, is evident from their being children of the 
devil. "Ye are of your father, the devil, and the 
lusts of your father it is your will to do."— John 8 :44. 
Commenting on this, Tholuck says : "They who are 
truly the sons of God and members of His family, 
cannot be ignorant of the language of their father's 
house." — in I. Being offspring of the devil accounts 
for their being called the "sons of disobedience." 
(k) That unregenerate men are not children of God, 
is clear from their being, by nature and by practice, 



BIBLE ON DEPKAYITY. 



259 



the "children of wrath/' — Eph. 2 :2. That the word, 
here rendered nature, always m^ans the nature with 
which we are begotten and born, has been proved under 
the arguments for inherited depravity. Most certainly, 
God's children are not 4 'children of wrath;" there- 
fore, unregenerate men are not God's children (1) 
That unregenerate persons are not God's children, is 
evident from their being of Satan's family, of Satan's 
spirit, of Satan's final doom. The Scriptures divide 
mankind, by nature, practice and destiny, into two di- 
visions. The children of God ; the children of Satan : 
the children of light ; the children of darkness : the 
enemies of God ; the friends of God : the children of 
His favor ; the children of His wrath : the saved ; the 
lost : the wicked ; the righteous : those who ' ' scatter 
abroad;" and those who gather with Him; citizens; 
aliens : possessing the spirit of Satan ; possessing the 
Spirit of God : in the kingdom of Satan ; in the king- 
dom of God : destined for hell; destined for heaven. 
These are said to be traveling two roads — the righteous, 
the "strait and narrow road ;" the wicked, the ' 'broad 
road." The blood of Christ, cleansing from sin, 
bringing into the family and kingdom of God, is the 
line of demarkation between these classes. Look at 
the unregenerate, as the light is thrown upon them 
from the eternal world — even Universalists concede 
" God will not damn His children" — and answer if 
they look like God's children; — "Then shall He say 
unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed 



260 



CAMPBELLISM REJECTS THE 



into eternal fire, which is prepared for the devil and 
his angels." — Matt. 25:41. Of the same nature, the 
same family, the same kingdom and the same life as 
the devil and his angels, they are together with them 
plunged into the same judicial doom.f 

That no one is naturally born a child of God- 
that ONLY THE REGENERATE ARE CHILDREN OF GoD IS 
AS CERTAIN, AS THAT GOD, IN JUSTICE, WARNING- AND 
MERCY HAS SPOKEN TO A LOST WORLD. Let 110 Olie, who 

loves God's Word and weeps and prays over lost men 
and women, teach any child or grown person other than 
that we are " children of God by faith in Christ Jesus." 

Inasmuch as children partake of the nature of their 
parents, and Satan is totally depraved, it is very certain 
that every one of his children inherits his totally de- 
praved nature. Hence Paul says that "the mind of 
the flesh is enmity against God." — Kom. 8:7. 

5. That man is totally depraved, is evident from his 
being a violator of, and guilty of violating, the whole 
law of God. Jesus sums up the whole law of God : 
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy soul 
and with all thy mind . . . Thou shalt love thy neigh- 
bor as thyself."— Matt. 22:37,38. The Jews, like the 
majority of mankind, to-day, thought each of the 

f There is prevalent so much a liberalisIn, ,, so much white-wash- 
ing, flattering our old Adamic nature and condition — children 
being made believe, by saying the Lord's prayer — * k Our Father" 
— that they are "God's little ones, v u Gk>d s little lambs'' — 
preachers and writers teaching that all are God's children, that 
I have been careful to prove most clearly that onty those who are 
"children of God by faith in Christ Jesus" are God's children. 



BIBLE ON DEPRAVITY. 



261 



ten commandments a distinct law. They carried this 
so far as to say : "Moses has enjoined 365 prohibi- 
tions and 248 commands, making in all 613 different 
precepts and ordinances," Words of Jesus, vol. 3, 
p. 177 . With the majority of mankind, of the pres- 
ent, the Jews, regarding each commandment as a dis- 
tinct law, held that any one of the commandments 
could be violated without violating all the others. As 
in the Sermon on the Mount, Christ lays the ax at the 
root of this erroneous conception of the law, by pro- 
claiming its unity. In summing up this law, Moses 
frequently omitted mentioning the second part — love 
to our neighbor : "Love the Lord thy God with all 
thine heart and with all thy soul." — Deut. 30: 6 ; 10 : 
12 ; 6 :5. He did not do this disregardful of love to 
our neighbor ; for he, elsewhere, distinctly recognized 
love to our neighbor as an essential part of the law. — 
Lev. 19 :18. But he did it because God is not loved 
except where we are faithful to our neighbor. Be- 
cause love to God glorifies Him by making us faithful 
to Him in all our relations to Him, as these branch out 
divine ward and humanward. (Excuse coining these two 
words). 

In announcing the "second" commandment, Christ 
does not recognize the law as of two parts. But, as 
Stier remarks: "Although the first and sole com- 
mandment was sufficient to say and enjoin everything , 
it is yet not enough for the deaf ears and hard heart 
of man. If any man saith, I love God, and hateth 
his brother, he is a liar ; but because we might all be 



262 



CAMPBELLISM REJECTS THE 



such liars, therefore, we have further this command- 
ment from Him, that he who loves God loves his broth- 
er also." — Words of Jesus, vol. 3, p. 181. (My 
italics). 

Says Muller : 6 'But the manner in which Christ 
speaks of the first of these — absolutely, 'the great 
commandment' very clearly indicates that we must 
seek the union of both in it . . . Strictly speaking 
this — the second command — is actually expressed in 
the command to love God ... A love which lays 
claim to the whole inner life, cannot stand side by side 
with other moral commands as above them, or below 
them, it must embrace and penetrate them all. The 
Old Testament bases to reverence human life upon the 
fact that God made man in his own image." — Chris- 
tian Doctrine of Sin, vol. 1, p. 110. 

This unity is recognized throughout the Bible, in 
that all glory belongs to God. Near 200 Scriptures 
reveal man's whole duty by the word 6 'glory," as be- 
ing due to God. Paul sums it up in : "Whether there- 
fore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to 
the glory of God."— 1 Cor. 10:31. Love to God is 
the whole of the moral law ; love to God manifests 
itself in doing all to His glory, whether we act to- 
wards Him respective of or irrespective of man. Each 
of the ten commandments is, therefore, no law, but 
only a part of the one law, in one of its ten branches, 
as "commandments." In view of the unity of 
the law James said : "For whosoever shall keep the 
whole law, and yet stumble in one point he has be- 
come guilty of all." — James 2 : 10. The reason for 



BIBLE ON DEPRAVITY. 



263 



this is the unity of the law ; the whole law resting on 
the Law Giver's authority. A violation of any part 
of it, like the rent of a garment, or the rebellion 
against any part of the law of our country, is a rent— 
a violation of the whole divine law, a thrust at the au- 
thority of that law. He that purposely violates the 
least part of the divine law, — whatever that command- 
ment may be — does so through disrespect and hatred 
to the law and its authority. Were there sufficient in- 
ducement or temptation to violate any other part of 
the law he would as readily violate it. In violating 
any part of the law, he undeniably proves himself, in 
spirit, a rebel against the whole law. Hence, James 
gives the reason why one is guilty of violating the 
whole law when he violates a part of it : 6 4 For he who 
said, Do not commit adultery, said also, do not kill. 
Now if thou dost not commit adultery, but killest, 
thou art become a transgressor of the law" — of the 
undivided and indivisible law. Take a man who lies 
and does not murder, Think you it is regard for the 
law or its authority that permits him to lie and pre- 
vents him from committing murder? Or the man who 
commits adultery and does not murder. Think you 
that it is regard for the law and its authority that per- 
mits him to violate the one and keep the other? Take 
the man who cheats and does not rob. Think you that 
his regard for the law and its authority permits him to 
wrongfully possess his neighbors' property in the one 
way, and forbids him to wrongfully possess it in the 



264 



CAMPBELLISM REJECTS THE 



other? Take the man who is what the world calls the 
best 6 'moral man." Think you that regard for the 
law prevents him from being an "immoral," "bad 
man, and permits him to live in violation of the law, 
that calls on him to love God, to give to Him the heart 
and to walk in the Christian life. No ! a thousand 
times no ! ! In every one of these cases the sin is 
from "enmity against God;" and, therefore,its author 
has no regard, whatever, for Him or His law. The 
only reason men violate the law more in some ways 
than in others, is because they are not tempted so 
strongly to violate it in others— or, because the educa- 
tion and surroundings have been different. How 
often do we see "one crime lead to another," in 
order to hide the first, when the criminal had, 
at the beginning, no thought of committing other 
than the first? Like the tamed tiger. Docile, harm- 
less. You might think it had lost its blood-thirsty, 
tiger nature. Only a taste of blood will often prove 
it as totally a tiger, as is the tiger in the jungles 
of India. As Adam Clarke comments : "The truth is, 
any sin is against the Divine authority ; and he who 
has committed one transgression is guilty of death; 
and by his one deliberate act dissolves as far as he can, 
the sacred connection that subsists between the divine 
precepts and the obligation which he is under to obey, 
and thus casts off in effect his allegiance to God. For 
if God should be obeyed in one instance, he should be 
obeyed in all, as the authority and reason of obedience 



BIBLE ON DEPRAVITY. 



265 



are the same in every case; he, therefore, who breaks 
one of these laws is, in effect, if not in fact, guilty of 
the whole." — On James 2 :10 . Or as Harless, from 
a different standpoint, expresses it: ' ' That which is 
said in reference to the law of God, that he who will 
keep it, and fails in any one particular, is guilty of 
breaking the whole, (Jas. 2:10) applies also in refer- 
ence to the true goodness of the moral personality. 
When just only in one respect will that which is not 
good, and by this will do that which is evil, there is, 
thereby, given simply the proof of a ruined person- 
ality" — Christian Ethics, p. 87. (My italics.) 

To the objection, that it is right to love our chil- 
dren, etc., etc., and that man proves himself not to- 
tally depraved by doing so, Andrew Fuller well says: 

"It is right, no doubt, that children should be dutiful 
to their parents, parents affectionate to their chil- 
dren and that every relation of life should be filled 
with fidelity and honor. But these duties require to 
be discharged in the love of God, not without it; nor 
is there any duty performed, strictly speaking, where 
the love of God is wanting. Read those parts of 
Paul's Epistles where he exhorts to relative duties, and 
you will find that he admonishes children to obey their 
parents in the Lord; parents to bring up their chil- 
dren in the nurture and admonition of the Lord ; ser- 
vants to obey their masters 'in singleness of heart as 
unto Christ,' and masters to be kind and just unto 
their servants as having an eye to 'their Master in 
Heaven, — adding, 'and whatsoever ye do, do it hear- 
tily as unto the Lord, and not unto men.' Now all 
those persons whose behavior may appear amiable iu 



266 



CAMPBELLISM REJECTS THE 



such relations, but who have not the love of God in 
them, do what they do as merely unto men; and con- 
sequently, fly, in the face of Apostolic exhortation, 
instead of complying with it, in the least degree." — 
Works of Andrew Fuller, vol. 2. p. 671. 

The faithful dog obeys his Master, follows him to 
his grave, there refuses to be comforted or to leave the 
grave. The tiger, of the jungles, dies for its young. 
They do all they can to be faithful to their "du- 
ties." What worldly man ever was more faithful to 
his kind? If such faithfulness, with no regard for 
God, makes morality, how much more morality has 
man than has the poor beast? Neither regards God; 
neither has hope for the future ! The Psalmist rec- 
ognized the nature of law, when, broken down under 
the sense of guilt, on account of his crime against 
Uriah, he exclaimed, to God: "Against thee, thee 
only, have I sinned." — Psa. 51 :4. He had trespassed 
against Uriah. But as sin "is transgression of law," 
a thrust at the authority of the Law Giver, he rec- 
ognized sin, in its real nature, as being against God 
only. Commenting on Matt. 22 : 37, 38 Stier adds : 

"As, and because God is one, His law also, though 
consisting of manifold commandments, must have 
unity flowing from his being and will; just as from 
the same ground the unity of the law and the prom- 
ise is farther deduced from Gal. 3 :20. The one God 
requires the whole heart to be united in itself (Ps. 86 : 
11 — «Q3^ nrv — Yachadh Ibaubi — "unite my heart") 
in one love, corresponding to His love and His love- 
liness. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, — thou 



BIBLE ON DEPRAVTTr. 



267 



— the entire man, inwardly and outwardly, with 
spirit, soul and body : that is the meaning of the He- 
brew All the powers of the soul and body, 

carried into outward action." — Words of Jesus, Vol. 
3. p. 179. 

Instead of man doing this, God's Word declares that 
he is "enrnity against God," that he "is not subject to 
the law of God, neither indeed can be." — Rom. 8 :7. 
But it is replied: "If I am a good moral man, do 
nothing wrong, I am all right." I answer : According 
to God's standard of morals you are not at all moral 
unless you love Him. Besides, your reply is but an 
illustration of your depravity. Think of it : A man 
not only so depraved as to not love God, but so de- 
praved as to renounce all obligation to love Him ! ! A 
man so depraved as to white- wash the^epulchre, and then 
cry, to passers by, that "it is pure and sweet inside!" 
If this does not out-total total depravity, it certainly 
equals it. 

But, it is asked: "If a merely external compli- 
ance with relative duties be a sin, would the omission 
of them be any better? I answer, no; but worse. 
There are, as has been allowed, different degrees of 
sin. To perform an action which tends to the good of 
society, from a wrong motive, is a sin ; to neglect to 
perform it, or to perform one of an opposite tendency, 
is a greater sin." — Works of Andrew Fuller, Vol. 2, 
p. 611. 

In causing a man to prevaricate, the devil sins ; but, 
in causing a man to violate all of the Ten Command- 
ments with all his power, the devil commits a greater 



268 



CAMPBELLISM REJECTS THE 



sin, than in causing him only to prevaricate. Yet , each 
act of the devil is rebellion against God, violation of 
the whole law ; and is the work of total depravity. So 
the prevarication of the man is a sin, the violation of 
all of the Ten Commandments is a greater sin ; but 
each is a violation of the whole law, is rebellion against 
God, and is the work of total depravity. 

From the foregoing argument it is clear that man is 

o o o 

totally depraved, in two ways ; first, in understanding, 
feeling, will and life ; second, in that he is a total vio- 
later of the Divine law — a violater of, and guilty of 
violating the whole law. In view of the Scriptural 
basis of this argument, Paul says : "The mind of the 
flesh is enmity against God ; for" — that is, because it 
hates Him it will not love or obey Him — "it is not 
subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." — 
Eom. 8:7. Or, as James sums it up, — "Guilty of all 9 
— "totally" buried in sin. 

6„ That man is totally depraved, is certain from the 
regeneration which is necessary to fit him for the king- 
dom of heaven. Regeneration, being a generating of 
a "new creature," a new nature, a new life, and being 
called the "new creation," and new life, presupposes 
that the old nature, the old creature, the old creation, 
and the old life, is irreclaimable, — totally depraved. 
As regeneration is explained and proved in Chapter 17 
of this book, the reader is referred to it, for much 
that I would say here. If man w^ere only partly de- 
praved, he would not need a new nature, would not 



BIBLE ON DEPRAVITY. 



269 



need to be made a "new creature," a new creation, and 
have a new life and a new spirit given him. See Rom. 
8:9; 2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15; Eph. 2:10; 4:24. 
Were there any love to God, remaining in the old 
nature, a spiritual patching up would be sufficient; the 
breath Divine would fan that remaining spark of love 
into a flame. "Regeneration," a "new creature," a 
new "creation," and a new life being necessary, are 
certain evidences of the total depravity of the old 
nature. 

7. The Scriptures declare, "in so many words," 
that man is totally depraved. Says Paul : "As it is 
written, — 

There is none righteous, no not one; 
There is none that understandeth, 
There is none that seeketh after God; 
They have all turned aside, they have together become 
unprofitable; 

There is none that doeth good, no, not so much as one : 

Their throat is an open sepulchre ; 

With their tongues they have used deceit : 

The poison of asps is under their lips ; 

Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness : 

Their feet are swift to shed blood; 

Destruction and misery are in their ways ; 

And the way of peace they have not known: 

There is no fear of God before their eyes." — Rom. 3:10-18. 

If the words which I have italicised in this quotation, 
do not denote totality, then universal terms cannot de- 
note it. This language could be so well adapted to 
the nature and the life of Satan, that any one who had 
never studied his own heart, history, and the Holy 



270 



CAMPBELLISM REJECTS THE 



Scriptures, might easily imagine it the characterization 
of Satan. Take the expressions, " destruction and 
misery are in their ways," "their feet are swift to shed 
blood," who has not found that to prevent this from 
all blazing out in life, it is necessary to control his va- 
rious passions? "Their throat is an open sepulchre !" 
Who can stand before a sepulchre, containing a body 
in its most offensive state of decomposition? Such is 
the heart, to which the throat is the opening. Like 
the Campbellites, the "Scribes and Pharisees" did not 
believe a word of the doctrine of total depravity. Like 
the Campbellites, they thought a profession, with the 
proper ceremonies and an outwardly moral life, ac- 
ceptable to God. With the same illustration, Jesus 
lifted the cover off their moral rottenness, by saying : — 
"Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! 
for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which outwardly 
appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men's 
bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also out- 
wardly appear righteous unto men, but inwardly, ye 
are full of hypocrisy and iniquity." — Matt. 23 :27,28. 
The italicised words — this language — would it not well 
characterize the devil? Does it not denote total de- 
pravity? Yet, it is used .to describe men, who, by 
nature, are as good as any who now live. Not of any 
especial class, but of all unregenerate persons, Jesus 
says : "For out of the heart come forth evil thonghts, 
murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, 
railings." — Matt. 15 :19. In the same manner, Jere- 



BIBLE ON DEPRAVITY. 



271 



Uriah says: ' ' The heart is deceitful above all things, 
and it is desperately wicked: who can know it." — Jer. 
17:9. Anntsh, ( ) rendered "desperately," 
Gesenius defines, "desperate, incurable, fatal." — Lex. 
Ileb. It is rendered by tw T o words, "desperately 
wicked," and would be better rendered, "fatally" 
or "hopelessly" [wicked]. "Deceitful above all 
things," fatally wicked, — if this is not totally de- 
praved how can total depravity be expressed? The 
language would well apply to Satan. The question, 
"who can know it," in effect, is answered by Camp- 
bellites: "We know enough about it to know it is not 
incurable — that it is not totally lost." Again : "The 
Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the 
earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of 
his heart was only evil continually." — Gen. 6 :5. In 
chapter 8 :21, God says this is Yatser lab hauaudam 
ra minavrau ( pity3D m DlKn lh 'W ) rendered, 
"the imagination of a man's heart is evil from his 
youth," means, as Stier observes, "from his very 
birth."— W ords of Jesus, Vol. 4, p. 399. Naar, 
rendered youth, often means an infant "just born." 
(Ges.) See Ex. 2:6; Judges 13:5, 7; 1 Sam. 4:21. 
Yatser means, purpose, as well as imagination, and, 
here, and in chapter 6:5, had better be rendered pur- 
pose, as it denotes the aims or designs of the unregen- 
erate, as being against God. — "No fear of God before 
their eyes." It does not exclude "imagination," for 
man's imaginations are the servants of his purposes. 



272 CAMPBELLISM REJECTS THE 

The word, rendered every, in Gen. 6 : 5 ( hi — haul), 
denotes "every, all, of all kinds, of every kind and 
sort." — Ges.' Lex. "Every" purpose "of his heart 
evil and only evil" — is not that as total as the devil is 
totally depraved ? — as total as total can be ? And all 
of this "from his youth! !"— Chap. 8 :21. Ra (jn ), 
rendered evil, in Gen. 6 :5 ; 8 :21, Ges. defines "bad, 
evil, worthless, hurtful 9 harmful, . . ? . in a moral 
sense, wickedness, depravity ." — Lex. Heb. It there- 
fore, reads: "Every purpose of his heart depraved, 
was only depravity ;" and chap. 8 :21, says : "the pur- 
pose of man's heart is depraved from his birth." In 
view of this, how awfully true is Stier's comment: 
"Human nature is not simply weak, but bestially cor- 
rupt through inherited and accustomed sin." — Words 
of Jesus, Vol. 4, p. 369. The only exception that 
can be taken to Stiers' words is that beasts are true to 
their nature and their end. Poor fallen man is the 
only blot in God's universe, as he only denies, by 
heart and life, the end of his being! Bead what Paul 
says, in Rom. 1:21-32. I quote verse 32: — "Who 
knowing the ordinance of God, that they which prac- 
tice such things are worthy of death, not only do the 
same, but also consent with them that practice them." 
So true to human nature is this dark picture, that one 
of our missionaries was accused, by the heathen, of 
drawing it from them. Alluding to the "flesh," or 
the old nature, which is not changed by regeneration, 
but doomed to final destruction, Paul said: "Fori 



BIBLE ON DEPRAVITY. 



273 



know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good 
thing." — Kom. 7:18. If this is not total depravity, 
no creed or theologian ever expressed it. — 6 'No good 
thing!" Paul was not, in the least, tinctured with 
Campbellism. Equally emphatic are the words of our 
Lord : "No man can serve two masters ; for either he 
will hate the one, and love the other; or, else he will 
hold to one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve 
God and mammon."— Matt. 6 : 24. The two masters 
are God and Satan. There is no half-way ground. A 
total service of Satan or a total service of God — a 
total hate to the one; a total love to the other. But, 
Campbellism has it : not total hate or total love ! I 
will leave this dark and horrible picture, by quoting 
Isaiah 1 :6 : "The ivhole head is sick, and the whole 
heart is faint. From the sole of the foot even unto 
the head, there is no soundness in it ; but wounds and 
bruises and festering sores." Such were the unregen- 
erate Israelites; such are all men, now. 

"How sad our state by nature is ! 

Our sin, bow deep it stains? 
And Satan binds our captive minds 

Fast, in bis slavisb obanis." 

On this point, Campbellism is one of the most poi- 
sonous and dangerous doctrines which ever helped to 
blast the only opportunity of fallen man to be saved. 
Campbellism is the soothing, spiritual quack, to keep 
man from coming and falling at the feet of Christ and 
crying, "God be merciful to me a sinner. "-Luke 18 :13. 

Dear readers, may the mercy of God save you from 
the certain doom of all who deny their hopelessly 
fallen and lost condition, except as washed, every whit, 
in the blood of Jesus. 



274 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE ROMISH DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMAL REGENERATION 
IS A FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINE OF CAMPBELLISM. 

I. Alexander Campbell and Baptismal Regenera- 
tion. Says Alexander Campbell, of Cornelius : "He 
was immersed, and into the kingdom of God he came. 
He was then saved."— Christian System, p. 239. This 
was addressed to "the unregenerate." (My italics.) 

"The change which is consummated by immersion is 
sometimes called, in sacred style, 'being quickened,' or 
'made alive,' 'passing from death to life,' 'being bom 
again,' 'having risen ivith Christ,' 'turning to the 
Lord,' 'being enlightened ,'' conversion,' 'reconciliation' , 
'repentance untolife.' These, like the words, propitia- 
tion, atonement, expiation, redemption, expressive of 
the various aspects which the death of Christ sustains, 
are expressive of the different relations in which this 
great change, sometimes called 'a new creation/ may 
be contemplated." — Christian System, p. 60. 

Criticising the explanation of regeneration as made 
by the "doctors," Mr. Campbell says : 

"To call the receiving of any spirit, or any influ- 
ence, or any energy, or any operation upon the heart 
of man regeneration, is an abuse of all speech, as 
well as a departure from the diction of the Holy 
Spirit, who calls nothing personal regeneration except 
the act of immersion." — Christian System, p. 202. — 
(only "any" and "heart" are my italics.) 



OF CAMPBELLISM. 



275 



"If being born of water means immersion , as clearly 
proved by all witnesses; then remission of sins cannot 
be constitutionally enjoyed previous to immersion." — 
Idem, p. 208. Of the sinners' finding God: 

"The question then is, where shall we find 
Him ? Where shall we meet Him ? Nowhere on 
earth but in His institutions. 'Where He records 
His name,' there alone can He be found. I affirm 
that the first institution, in which we can meet 
with God, is the institution of remission. And 
here it is worthy of notice, that the Apostles, in 
all their speeches and replies to interrogatives, never 
commanded an inquirer to pray, read, or sing, as pre- 
liminary to his coming; but always commanded and 
proclaimed immersion as the first duty, or the first 
thing to be done after a belief of testimony. Hence, 
neither praying, singing, reading, repenting, sorrow- 
ing, resolving, nor waiting to be better, was the con- 
verting act. Immersion alone was the act of turning 
to God."— Idem, p. 209. 

6 6 As immersion is the first act commanded, and the 
first constitutional act ; so it was, in the commission, the 
act by which the Apostles were commanded to turn or 
convert those to God who believed their testimony. In 
this sense then it is the converting act." — Idem. p. 
210. 

"Wherever water, faith, and the name of the 
Father, Son and Holy Spirit are, there will be found 
the efficacy of the blood of Jesus. Yes, as God first 
gave the efficacy of water to blood, He has now given 
the efficacy of blood to tvater." — Idem, p. 215. 

Mr. Hand— p. 28 of his "Text Booh Exposed" -takes 
great exception to Bro, D. B. Ray for using this quo- 



276 



BAPTISMAL RE GENEK ATION 



tation, to prove that Mr. Campbell held that water 
"literally washes away sin." But Bro. Kay does not 
misrepresent Mr. Campbell's meaning. For, although 
Mr. Campbell says this is "figurative," he says: 

"But it is not a figure which misleads, for the mean- 
ing is given without a figure, viz., immersion for the 
remission of sins. . . Thus immersion . . . saves us, 
not by cleansing the body from its filth, but the con- 
science from its guilt; yes, immersion saves us by 
burying us with Christ, raising us with him, and so 
our consciences are purified from dead works to serve 
the living God." — Idem, p. 215. (My italics.) 

On the same page Mr. Campbell says : "An efficacy 
is ascribed to water which it does not possess." This 
last quotation looks as if Mr. Campbell had some 
thought of abandoning Campbellism; but, — hold on! 
Mr. Campbell completes the sentence with — "an effi- 
cacy is ascribed to blood which it does not possess. If 
blood can whiten or cleanse garments, certainly water 
can wash away sins." Now, Rev. 7 : 14 sets forth the 
efficacy of blood, in cleansing the soul, under the fig- 
ure of cleansing garments. Hence, after all, Mr. 
Campbell says that water does for the soul just what 
blood does for our spiritual robes — for our souls. Just 
what blood does for the soul water does for it! If 
Mr. Campbell meant to be plain, he meant that as 
blood is the basal condition of cleansing the soul, water 
is the basal condition of its remission. He who can 
discover a" difference between tweedledee and tweedle- 
dum" can discover a difference between Mr. Camp- 



OF CAMPBELLISM. 



277 



bell's meaning and Bro. Kay's construction of his 
meaning. Mr. Hand cites Mr. Campbell : 

' 'Down into the water you were led. Then the name 
of the Holy One upon your faith and upon your per- 
son was pronounced. You were then buried in the 
water under, that name. It closed itself upon you. In 
its womb you were concealed. Into the Lord, as into 
the water you were immersed. But in the water you 
continued not. Of it you were born, and from it you 
came forth, raised with Jesus, and rising in his 
strength. There your consciences were released; for 
there your old sins were washed away, and although 
you received not the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which 
confirmed the testimony to the first disciples, you felt 
the powers of the world to come, were enlightened, 
and tasted the bounty of God ; for seasons of re- 
freshment from the presence of the Lord came upon 
you. Your hearts were sprinkled from an evil con- 
science when your bodies w T ere washed in the cleansing 
water. Then into the kingdom of Jesus you entered.'' 
— Text Book Exposed, p. 63. (My italics.) 

This plainly enough expresses baptismal regenera- 
tion; and as Mr. Hand, a disciple of Mr. Campbell, 
quotes it to defend his master, it should be regarded 
as reliable. The following quotation, from Mr. 
Campbell, on page 77, of " Text Book Exposed, 79 Mr. 
Hand does not question as fairly made: "When a per- 
son has no sins to confess I do not baptize him. Bap- 
tism can neither be the seeking or answer of a good 
conscience to the man that has no sins from which to be 
cleansed." (My italics." ) "In and by the act of im- 
mersion, so soon as our bodies are put under water, at 
that very instant our former or 'old sins' are all 
washed away, provided only that we are true belie v- 



278 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION 



ers." — Christian Baptist, p. 416. (My Italics.) 

6 6 He that goes down into the water to put on Christ 
in the faith that the blood of Jesus cleanses from all 
sin, and that he has appointed immersion as the me- 
dium, as the act of ours, through and in which he 
actually remits our sins, h&s,when immersed the actual 
remission of sins. So that he is dead by sin, buried 
with Jesus, and is born again, or raised to life again, 
a life new and divine, in and through the act of im- 
mersion. . . In it we put on Christ, are buried with 
him, have our sins remitted, enter upon a new life, 
receive the Holy Spirit, and begin to rejoice in the 
Lord." — Christian Baptist, p. 436. (My italics). 

The word "actually," in this quotation, shows that 
this work is literally done. On the same page Mr. 
Campbell continues : 

"What! say they, is a man to put on Christ, to be 
born again, to begin a new life, to rise with Christ to 
a heavenly inheritance, to have all his sins remitted, 
to receive the Holy Spirit, to be filled with joy and 
peace, through the mere act of believing immersion 
in water into the name of the Father, Son and Holy 
Spirit. / say yea — most assuredly." (My italics.) 

"For if immersion be equivalent to regeneration, and 
regeneration be of the same import with being born 
again, then being born again and being immersed are 
the same thing "—Christian System, p. 200 . (My 
italics.) Well does Mr. Campbell characterize this 
doctrine : "If so, then who will not concur with me 
in saying that Christian immersion is the gospel in wa- 
ter." — Christian Baptist,, p. 417. (My italics.) This 
is sufficient to place, beyond doubt, that the founder 
of the Campbellite Church made water regeneration 
the fundamental doctrine of the Campbellite Church. 



OF CAMPBELLISM. 



279 



So taught B. W. Stone. Works of Stone by J. M. 
Mathe$ 9 p. 29. 

II. That Mr. Campbell's followers tenaciously ad- 
here to this doctrine — of baptismal regeneration — I 
propose to prove, by the following quotations from 
representative Campbellites, beyond a doubt. Mr. 
Hand was so excited at Bro. Bay's expose of Mr. 
Campbell, that, like a good child, he flew to his father's 
defense, in a work which he entitles ' 'Text Book Ex- 
posed." 1. On p. 77 of "Text Book Exposed," Mr. 
Hand endorses Mr. Campbell's baptismal regeneration 
doctrine: 4 6 And if a man could become a Christian 
without being baptized, and then be baptized because 
he is a Christian, then how often should he be bap- 
tized because he is a Christian. Once a week?" Were 
I replying to this trifling with divine things, I would 
answer : Once — just as often as Jesus commanded. 
As we become a Christian but once, but once m bap- 
tism we profess having become so. But, Mr. Hand, 
as you say that a man should be baptized to procure 
remission of sins, if you can get figures to compute 
how often he sins, after baptism, you may ascertain 
how often Campbellism, logically, requires his bap- 
tism ! 2. Isaac Errett, editor of the Christian Stan- 
dard, Cincinnati: " The gospel, w T hile proclaiming 
justification by faith to the sinner, has linked it with 
the ordinance of baptism, ere the promise 'shall be 
saved' can be lawfully approached." — Walks About 
Jerusalem, p. 79. (My italics.) J. R. Graves makes 
the following quotation from Mr. Errett in the Chris- 
tian Standard : 

"Disciples hold that in regenerating the sinner the 
Spirit operates through the laws of man's nature, by 
means of the truth to enlighten, convince and persuade; 



280 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION 



that repentance and baptism mark different stages in 
the process of regeneration — faith and repentance in- 
volving a change of heart, and baptism affecting in be- 
half of the sinner thus made alive to God, a birth, a 
change of state or relationship." — In The Baptist. 

Thus Mr. Errett says baptism is one of the "differ- 
ent stages of the process of regeneration.*' Be it re- 
membered that Mr. Errett is claimed, by some of the 
Baptists, as being of the "evangelical wing of the Camp- 
bellites." 3. J. R. Lucas: "We are baptized into 
the death of Christ ivhere we meet the blood, and then 
we become new creatures," — Ray-Lucas Debate, p. 
101. (My italics.) 4. D. P.Henderson: "Bap- 
tism is the centralYmk in the chain of pardon — the last 
of the series which brings us into the everlasting king- 
dom." — Ray-Lucas Debate, p. 206. 5. Moses E. Lard : 
"I believe that baptism was the act specifically named 
for it" — remission — What Baptism is Lor, Number 1, 
p. 6. "It — baptism — is consequently, a condition of 
pardon, and is essential to it." — What Baptism is For, 
Number 3, p. 8. "Baptism doth also save us, because 
therein our sins are remitted." — What Baptism is For, 
Number 6, p. 6. (I italicise "therein") 6. The 
American Christian Review, in answer to an inquirer : 
"As touching the third question we have only to say 
that baptism is the birth itself." — Ln Baptist Banner . 
7. O. A. Burgess : "Is there found any where in the 
New Testament any other institution whatever of 
God's appointment that sets forth the pardon and ac- 
ceptance of the sinner under the figure of a birth? . . 
There can no more be such a thing as a birth into the 
kingdom of Christ without water baptism than a child 
can be said to be bom before it has been really bom of 
the mother. It is monstrous to suppose that a single 



OF CAMPBELLISM. 



281 



parent is requisite in the new birth and there can be 
no such thing: as the sinner becoming a new creature 
in Christ Jesus until he comes forth out of the womb 
of the waters, and having been made dead to sin, is 
made alive to God." — Thompson-Burgess Debate, p. 
203, 204, in Am. Bap. Hag. (My italics.) 8. Clarke 
Braden : ' 'Baptism is as much in order to remission of 
sins as faith and repentance ." — Braden-Hughey Deb. 
p. 565. 9. J. Z. Taylor : "I know that I am a child 
of God, because I know that I believe on the Lord 
Jesus Christ, and have been baptized." A Sympo- 
sium of the Holy Spirit, p. 114. 10. 6 ' Campbell 
never believed or taught baptismal regeneration, as 
taught by Wesley and Eome, ivithout faith or repent- 
ance. He followed Peter."— Christian Messenger, 
Dec. 19, 1883. (My italics). Then, Mr. Burnett, 
you admit that he did teach it, though you say, "not 
as," etc. Never, again, tell the people that Baptists 
misrepresent Campbellism . 

The reader will please here turn to Chapter I, and 
"2" of* this book for definition of baptismal regenera- 
tion. In that he will see that not only did Mr. Camp- 
bell hold to baptismal regeneration, "as taught by 
Wesley and Rome," but that the quotation, just 
made, proves that Mr. Burnett also belongs to the 
Romish camp — so do all genuine Campbellites. 11. G. 
W. Logan : "Baptism . , . is God's covenant . . . 
to forgive all his past sins" — the believers' — Union 
with Christ, p. 22. 12. Frederick D. Power, pastor 
of the Campbcllite Church in Washington, at the time 
of President Garfield's death, says that while agree- 
ing with Baptists as to "the action of baptism," 
"With respect to the design of baptism they accord 
more with the Pedo-baptists. They baptize 'for the 



282 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION 



remission of sins,' and claim that the sinner, in 
obeying this ordinance, appropriates God's promise 
of pardon." — Schaff-Herzog Ency. vol. 1, p. 645. 
(My italics). I ask the reader to turn to Chapter I 
and ' ' 2" of this book where I have explained how it 
happens that Campbellites " accord more with the 
Pedo-baptists" ' 'with respect to the design of bap- 
tism." Let the reader remember that Campbellites, 
here, confessedly are with the Pedo-baptists. This 
confession, of Mr. Power, is but another proof that 
Baptists only and alone hold to ' ' the blood before the 
water " — salvation by grace only. It is the " old 
story" of Baptists against Eome and Rome against 
Baptists. 

13. Prof. R. Richardson: "The sinner is to be 
immersed for the remission of sins, and the reception 
of the Holy Spirit." — Relig. Denom. pub. by Desilver 
p. 230. Of baptism as the 46 remitting ordinance" 
Prof . Richardson says: "This view of baptism gave 
great importance to the institution, and has be- 
come one of the prominent features of this reforma- 
tion." — Idem p. 229. 14. "To enter into the kingdom 
of Gocl is to enter into the Church of Christ. No 
man enters into the Church of Christ without baptism." 
— B. B. Tyler, in Western Recorder. As Campbellites 
regard entrance into the Church as essential to procure 
salvation, this is equivalent to saying that no man is 
saved before baptism. So, in his discussion with J. M. 
Frost, in the Western Recorder, Mr. Tyler argued. 
15. Record and Evangelist in a controversy with the 
Journal and Messenger, says : "But the Journal and 
Messenger says the Baptists believe that this new birth, 
this new creation, may exist without baptism. In this, 
they are peculiar .... m that they differ upon this 



OF CAMPBELLISM. 



283 



point so widely from the Savior. Put this down as 
peculiarity number one." — (my italics — quoted in the 
Journal and Messenger . ) 

III. ^Especial attention is ashed to the remaining 
proof that Oampbellites believe in Baptismal Regener- 
ation, in that it expressly contains the avowal of Oamp- 
bellites in baptism making children of God of children 
of the devil; and the damnation of all who die with- 
out baptism. These two points are the logical results of 
baptismal regeneration. Of course, all these quotations 
in this chapter— though not so expressly, teach that 
baptism changes children of Satan into children of 
God, and that all, unimmersed, must be damned. But 
not all Oampbellites are sufficiently candid to so man- 
fully avow their belief, as do those here cited. First, 
Baptismal regeneration avowedly held by Campbellism 
as changing children of the devil into children of God. 

16. The Old Path Guide, Sept. 19, 1884, in an 
editorial on the two extreme positions found among 
Campbellite writers' reception and rejection of 
immersion by other than Campbellites — as the correct 
position, says : "In harmony with this idea, it has 
ever been the custom of the Disciples to receive into 
their churches those who have been immersed by the 
denominations. In other words, their sectarian bap- 
tism has always been accepted as Scriptural.! Even 
Bro. Rowe himself has not re-baptized such converts. 
Now, if the immersed among the denominations did 
not become children of God when immersed, their im- 
mersion is worthless, and every one abandoning secta- 
rianism, from the beginning of our plea to the present, 
should have been re-immersed. If they did become 

fWhat Scripture says that " sectarian baptism" is "Scriptural?" 
Yet, these Campbellites say the Bible is their creed! 



284 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION 



children of God when immersed, so that we may re- 
ceive them on their baptism, then God has children 
among the sects. This is precisely what our plea has 
ever contemplated, and on this plea it has proceeded 
from the beginning." (My italics.) 
17. Moses E. Lard : 

"When we cross the line out of the world into the 
kingdom we cease to be a Jew, cease to be a Gentile ; 
and when we cease to be these we cease to be the chil- 
dren of the wicked one, and become children of God. 
But we never cease to be Jew and Gentile till we enter 
Christ and we never enter him till baptized into him. 
Then, therefore, do we cease to be the children of Sa- 
tan and become the children of God." What Bap- 
tism is For, Number 8, pp. 5, 6. 18. H. T. Ander- 
son: "The Baptists baptize men because they are 
Christians, ivhile the Disciples baptize men to make 
them Christians. If the Baptists are right in this 
then the Disciples are wrong." — Ray-Lucas Debate, 
p. 405. This J. E. Lucas, indorsed. — idem, p. 405. 
So does Hand and every true Campbellite. — Text Book 
Exposed, p. 77. This is a good representation of a 
fundamental difference between Baptists and Camp- 
bellites. 

Second. The damnation of all who die unimmersed, 
a fundamental part of Campbellite baptismal regenera 
tion notion. As I remarked, the damnation of all who 
die unimmersed is a logical sequence of Campbellism, 
Not all Campbellites avow this : it may be that all do 
not believe it. But, as every true Campbellite believes 
that baptism regenerates, procures forgiveness of sin 
and changes children of the devil into children of God, 
Campbellites who do not believe in the damnation of 
the unimmersed, thereby, only manifest their inconsist- 



OF CAMPBELLISM. 



285 



ency and temerity in not accepting what every logician 
well knows their doctrine involves. Alexander Camp- 
bell was too good a logician to not see this. 19. Hence, 
he tried to dodge the consequent of baptismal regener- 
ation : — ' 4 Infants, idiots, deaf and dumb persons, inno- 
cent Pagans, wherever they can be found, ivith all the 
pious jPedo-baptists, we commend to the mercy of 
God." — Christian System, p. 233. (My italics ) 
How do those of our Pedo-baptist brethren, who are 
so ready to join Campbellites in warfare against the 
Baptists, relish being dished out with "infants, idiots, 
deaf and dumb persons, innocent Pagans," or being 
tumbled into hell with "such as wilfully despise" this 
water salvation? — Idem, p. 233. 20. The Christian 
says: "Can I be saved and not be a member of the 
Church of Christ? If so, then there is no use for the 
Church. Christ's suffering was useless. The world 
would be as well off without the church, as with it. 
Be not deceived. In the Church is salvation. Out of 
it is death — eternal death." (My italics.) Quoting this, 
the Journal and Messenger appropriately comments: 
"It will be observed that according to this paper there 
then is no salvation for the 'pious unimmersed,' 
neither for the 'pious immersed' unless he is a member 
of the Church of Christ, whatever it may mean by 
the phrase." 21. The Baptist quotes the following 
from the Christian Messenger, concerning Dr. Tuck- 
er's statement — Dr. Tucker is a Baptist: "Dr. Tucker 
has delivered himself in Atlanta, Ga., on the subject 
of baptism, and comes to the astounding conclusion 
that baptism is not absolutely essential to salvation, but 
it is a great religious duty. Man is saved by faith 
alone." (My italics). "To this The Baptist well 
adds: "Then we must understand that you hold the 



286 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION 



opposite — that baptism is absolutely essential to salva- 
tion." 

22. From Christian Standard — Isaac Errett's pa- 
per : — "He that believeth and is immersed shall be 
saved. . . If this language of God's Word means any- 
thing it must mean that none of the 'pious unim- 
mersed' can be saved. In view of the fact that our 
neighbor's" — the Journal and Messenger — "judgment 
and sympathy do not stagger at the damnation of un- 
believers, who are destitute of the means of faith, it 
ought not to cost him an additional sigh to include in 
this sweeping damnation of those 'pious unimmersed' 
who have all the means of knowing their duty respect- 
ing immersion. . . As the question put to us is a ques- 
tion of the possibility of the salvation of some who 
have not been immersed, w 7 e answer, unequivocally, 
Yes, the 'pious unimmersed' can be saved. With 
God all things are possible. . . Our opinion is that 
God can count the unimmersion of pious believers for 
immersion. In how many cases he will do this, is 
known only to himself." (My italics except "possi- 
bility" and "can.") What an effort to evade a 
difficulty ! Any foul-mouthed infidel can be saved in 
the same way, — only suppose God "can count" the 
disbelief for the belief . The editor adds: "But while 
we think that God can save those who fear him 
and work righteousness, whose failure to be immersed 
grows out of justifiable ignorance of the divine will 
— the conditions of salvation revealed in the gospel 
are, 'He that believes and is immersed shall be saved.' 
From the time that Jesus was exalted to be a Prince 
and Savior, the New Testament tells us of no unim- 
mersed person in a state of salvation. Is this distinct 
enough for our neighbor to hear and understand? 



OF CAMPBELLISM. 



287 



Pray, don't be afraid of embarrassing us. If you 
know of any of the 4 pious unimmersed' under the 
Christian dispensation, whom the New Testament 
declares to be in a saved state, speak it out ' distinctly 
so that all can hear and understand.' " (My italics, 
except 6 ' can.") 

23. Benjamin Franklin, in an editorial in the Chris- 
tian Review, in reply to "Bro, Logan :" 

6 'But now, why not accept Bro. Logan's position 
that baptism is for the remission of sins, and his other 
doctrine, too, that 'many of the unimmersed will be 
savedT For several reasons . . . Would he receive 
any without immersion? He has said he would not. 
Is it the case that the Lord will receive some into 
heaven that he would not receive into the Church here? 
We are still lacking proof of this new gospel — 'many 
of the unimmersed will be saved?' We cannot prove 
this new gospel. We have no prejudiee against it ; no 
objection to it, if it can be proved, but we cannot be- 
lieve it without evidence." (My italics.) Quoted by 
The Baptist. 

24. Gospel Advocate : "We do not deny that teaching 
faith, repentance and baptism are all and each jointly 
and severally, conditions of pardon, and that no re- 
sponsible person can have any Scriptural promise of 
forgiveness until he has complied with each of these 
conditions ." — Quoted by The Baptist. (My italies). 

25. B. A. O'Brien, in Christian Preacher-. "JSTo 
man or woman can be saved unless they have faith in 
Christ, repent of their sins and be buried with 
Christ in baptism, it makes no difference where he is at 
or who he may be." — Quoted by The Baptist. (My 
italics.) 

26. Prof. Eisk : "Shall be saved, enjoy the remis- 



288 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION 



sion of sins, is the highest favor known to man." 
Then, after expounding the commission according to 
Campbellism : Faith, repentance, baptism and salva- 
tion, says: "There can be no abatement of the condi- 
tions of the commission." — The Gospel — The Com- 
mission, by Prof. Risk— quoted in Am. Baptist Flag . 
In other words, Prof. Risk says that, as there "can be 
no abatement of the conditions of pardon," and, as 
baptism is one of these conditions, there is no hope 
for any one who dies without immersion. 27. Dr. 
Hopson : "But will I be damned if I am not baptized ? 
Certainly. Why not? It is the blood of Christ that 
really washes away the guilt of sin. We come to the 
blood, 'into the death' of Christ, through faith and 
repentance and in baptism." — Living Pulpit, p. 300 
— quoted in Am. Pap. Flag. (My italics.) 

28. Wesley Wright : "I have as much hope of meet- 
ing many of them ( Pedobaptists) in heaven, as I have 
of the resurrection of this body of mine, and I feel as 
sure that they will get there, without a legal remission 
of their sins, as I do that sprinkling and pouring of 
water on a person is not baptism." — Christian Record, 
of 1869, Vol. 3, New Series, JS T o. 6, p. 279,— quo- 
ted in Am. Pap. Flag, by C. V. Coffey. 

In other words, as Mr. Wright does not believe in 
the resurrection "of this body of mine" or in affusion 
for baptism, he does not believe that any person who 
has not been immersed will be in heaven. 

This long array of testimony — and it can be easily 
lengthened — from representative Campbellites, proves, 
beyond a shadow of reason for a doubt, that all, gen- 
uine, Campbellites believe in baptismal regeneration. 
It also proves that a very large part, probably the 
greater part, of Campbellites boldly declare that all 



OF CAMPBELLISM. 



289 



who die without having been immersed ' 6 will be 
damned." 

Take a few illustrations. Bro. N. O. Sowers, a 
Baptist minister, of Salem, Mo., has published the 
following letter under his own name, in the Am. Bap. 
Flag: 

" About one month ago, at or near Arlington, Mo., 
a point on the 'Frisco line, a certain man named Camp- 
bell, was taken sick unto death, and becoming seri- 
ously alarmed about his soul, requested Rev. Glover, 
a Campbellite preacher to pray for him. The Camp- 
beliite refused, on the ground that the patient was an 
unbaptized man. But as death drew nearer, the sick 
man persistently urged the preacher to pray for him. 
Finally, at about eleven o'clock at night, the sick man 
was borne by four men to a pool, where they lowered 
him into the water, while the preacher stood on the 
land, where he repeated the baptismal formula. The 
man was unconscious when thus immersed, and died 
the next morning. This statement is given to me by 
very reliable parties, who are ready to sustain it." 

This is fully equal to Rome, in rantising the dying. 
Not only this ; but Campbellites so strongly believe in 
baptismal regeneration, and that all the unbaptized will 
be damned, that they have been known to substitute 
pouring for baptism. The following letter is sufficient 
evidence : — 

Milford, Texas, April 10, 1875. 
u Bro. Kay: — I send you the following facts for your "Flag," 
as showing the tendency of 'baptism in order to the remission of 
sins,' as held by Campbellites. A fact. 'Hubbard Carrington, 
a Campbellite preacher in Au stin, Texas, did pour water upon 
the head of a dying girl for baptism/ — W. W. Hams. 'For 
further reference I refer you to Dr. B. F. Hall, of Mormon Grove, 
Grayson County, Texas, and Eld. E. B, Burleson, Waco, Texas. 
— W. W. Yarn's, July 20th, 1872. 



290 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION 



Prof. R. B. Burleson, of Waco, Texas, is Vice-President of 
Waco University. As a first-class teacher, and humble, devoted 
Baptist preacher, he is known all over Texas. Dr. B. F. Hall, of 
Mormon Grove, is one of the foremost Camphellite preachers in 
Texas. Hubbard Carrington, the pourer, is a Campbellite of 
ability and reputation. I have conversed with Bro. Burleson, 
since I obtained this fact from Bro. Harris. He told me that he 
and Dr. Hall talked about it in Austin. One of the child's parents 
was a Catholic, who feared the child would be utterly lost with- 
out rhe grace of baptism. The other was a Campbellite, who 
believed in baptism in order to remission of sins — but was op- 
posed to calling in a Catholic priest. So they sent for Hubbard 
Carrington, who poured water on the child's head, as it was too 
near dead to be immersed. 

Yours for believers' baptism, C. W. Pelt." 

That such a thing occurred among the Campbellites 
is not strange. The first case of affusion for baptism, 
mentioned in Church history, was a case like this one 
— believers in baptismal regeneration inventing pour- 
ing, to save the dying; — except that they, by attempt- 
ing to pour on so much water as to t cover the sub- 
ject, made an effort to conform to the Scriptures, 
while this Campbellite made no effort to make it as 
near immersion as possible. Mr. Carrington, was but 
reducing to practice Isaac Errett's reply to the Jour- 
al and Messenger, in an editorial in the Christian 
Standard: ' 'Our opinion is that God can count the 
unimmersion of pious believers for immersion." For 
if he can count the unimmersion of pious believers for 
immersion, of course he can count affusion for immer- 
sion — things equal to each other are equal to the same 
thing, 

Campbellites are in the habit of trying to weaken 
the force of their baptismal regeneration, when press- 
ed, by saying: "But we do not believe in baptismal 
regeneration, because we do not believe that baptism 

t I allude to Novatus, A. D. 250. Eusebius says: u Who . . . 
being poured around"' — Eusebius Eccl. Hint. b. 6, chap. 46. 



OF CAMPBELLISM. 



291 



will make one hair white or black without faith and re- 
pentance, unless the heart is turned to God." — Camp- 
bell-Bice Debate, p. 544, Text Bool: Exposed, p. 78. 
So, in my hearing, Mr. Robertson, in Weatherford, 
Tex., uttered the following words which I carefully 
noted down, at the time he uttered them : 6 "Water re- 
generation I understand means water saves without 
faith." To this I reply, first, Baptists do not charge 
Campbellites with believing in a baptismal regenera- 
tion which is destitute of Campbellite faith and repen- 
tance. But, from the Campbellite view of depravity, 
repentance and faith, they do believe in baptism sav- 
ing without Scriptural repentance and faith. 

Let the reader compare the Campbellite view of 
depravity with the Scriptural view of depravity, as set 
forth in Chapter J 1 of this book ; their views of re- 
pentance and faith, as set forth in Chapter 17, of this 
book, and he will see that while Campbellites, do have 
a 4, faith' ? and 6 "repentance," as conditions of baptism, 
they are far from being Scriptural repentance and 
faith. Of course, they think their faith and repent- 
ance Scriptural, because, like the Pharisees, their re- 
liance on ceremonies have blinded them to the reality 
of Christianity. 

Second. They profess precisely the baptismal re- 
generation of the Romish Church, and of all who fol- 
low her. When they say they do not believe in bap- 
tism saving, without faith and repentance, they say 
what the Eomish Church says as sincerely and truly as 
they say. 

Requesting the reader to turn to Chapter I and "2," 
of this book, where he will see what baptismal regen- 
eration is ; for convenience, I here, again, quote from a 
catechism, by "the Most Reverend Doctor James But- 



292 



BAPTISMAL RE GENEB ATION 



ler, revised, enlarged, improved and recommended 
by the four R. C. Archbishops of Ireland," which is 
universally used and approved among Romanists, in the 
United States. 4 'What is bnptism? A sacrament 
which cleanse us from original sin, makes us Chris- 
tians and children of God. ... Is baptism neces- 
sary to salvation ? Yes ; without it one cannot enter 
into the kingdom of God." This catechism perverts 
the same Scripture into the support of baptismal regen- 
eration which the Campbellites rely upon. — p. 46. 
That no one may believe that Romanists rely on 
water to cleanse, on p. 45 we read: "Whence have 
the sacraments the power of giving grace? From the 
merits of Christ, which they apply to our souls." 
Here is quoted a Campbellite "proof text," to prove 
that baptism, in the language of Campbellites, brings 
us to the blood. What is the difference, then, between 
baptismal regeneration, water salvation as professed 
by Romanists and as professed by Campbellites? Sim- 
ply, as to the water power, none. To make it, if pos- 
sible to do so, more certain that Romanists do not be- 
lieve that rites and ceremonies save without 
faith and repentance, I quote: — "Can any persons 
who deny outwardly the true religion or church, in 
which they inwardly believe, expect salvation while in 
that state? iVo." "Good works must be enlivened 
by faith and charity." — pp. 22, 23. (My italics.) 
Again: "What is contrition? A hearty sorrow and 
detestation of sin, for having offended God, with a 
firm resolution of sinning no more." — p. 52. (My 
italics.) On p. 64, of same work: "Say the Three 
Theological Virtues? Faith, hope and charity." 
Never, then, try to hide the soul-destroying doctrine 
of baptismal regeneration, by pleading that you, as 



OF CAMPBELLISM. 



293 



Campbellites, believe in faith and repentance with bap- 
tism — in only the merits ot Chri&t, as received in bap- 
tism. My Campbellite friend, Romists profess and 
believe as strongly as you do, that faith and repent- 
ance must go with baptism, in order to save. Right 
along with Campbellites come the Episcopalians. 
From "The Sunday School Leaflet," of Oct. 2, 1881, 
published by the Episcopal Publishing House, of N. 
Y., distributed in the Episcopal Sunday Schools of 
the United States, I quote : 6 ' What does God promise 
us in baptism? — That He will save our souls." In the 
same "Leaflet," of Oct. 9 : "What meanest thou by 
this sacrament? I mean an outward and visible sign 
of an inward and spiritual grace given unto us, 
ordained by Jesus Christ Himself as a means whereby 
we receive the same and a pledge to assure us thereof." 

Turn back and read, in this chapter, of this book, 
what Campbellites say that baptism does, and, in your 
own heart, before God, tell, if you can, wherein 
Campbellism differs from Episcopalianism and 
Romanism upon the magical work of baptism? — except 
in using more water. But you say: "We Camp- 
bellites do not believe that baptism does all of this 
without repentance and faith." But, I answer, so do 
the Episcopalians and Romanists say: — "Will He do 
so whether we obey Him or not? No. What must 
we do? Believe, and do as our sponsors promised for 
us." "Leaflet" of Oct. 2, 1881. Before me lies 
the Episcopal prayer book. In its form for bap- 
tism "of those of riper years " I find belief and 
repentance required as conditions of baptism con- 
ferring salvation. But, Mr. Burnett, in one of 
the quotations in this chapter, says that Camp- 
bellites do not profess " baptismal regeneration 



294 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION 



as taught by Wesley and Rome." Well, let us 
see. We have just shown that as to Rome, this 
statement is wholly false. I will let Mr. Wesley 
defend himself : "And the virtue of this free gift, 
the merits of Christ's life and death are applied to us 
in baptism." — Doctrinal Tracts, published by Lane & 
Scott, Meth. Book House in N. Y., 1850, p. 245. 
"We who were by nature the children of wrath are 
made the children of God by baptism." — Idem p. 
248. But, Mr. Wesley, as Campellites claim that 
they do not believe like you do, that baptism saves with- 
out the heart being in it, — do you believe that baptism 
does not regenerate without faith and repentance? 
"Baptism doth now save us, if one .... repent, 
believe and obey the Gospel." — -p. 249. (My italics.) 
Then, I repeat : Let us hear no more of Campbellites 
trying to divert attention from their baptismal regenera- 
tion, by claiming that they do not believe it as do 
Wesley, Rome and Episcopalians. No sect ever be- 
lieved IN ANY SUCH BAPTISMAL REGENERATION AS IG- 
NORED "faith and repentance." The whole doctrine 
of baptismal regeneration came from the Romish 
Church. The creeds of Episcopalians, Methodists, 
Presbyterians, all inherited it from Rome. Campbell- 
ism inherited it from Rome, through the Presbyterian 
Church. See Chapter I and "2," of this book. Camp- 
bellites and the whole Pedo-baptist camp, having de- 
scended from Rome, accounts for what Frederick D. 
Power, pastor of the Campbellite Church in Washing- 
ton, at the time of President Garfield's death, says: — 
"With respect to the design of baptism, they — the 
Campbellites — accord more with Pedo-baptists." — 
Schaff-Herzog Encyc, Vol.1, p. 645. 

Here, then, arrayed against thp Baptists and the 



OF CAMLBELLISM. 



295 



Bible are the Roman Catholic Church, the Campbellite 
and all the daughters of Eome. There is one qualifi- 
cation which I must, in justice to truth, put upon this, 
namely: Campbellites, not being so near the Bible, 
as are Rome and most of her daughters, on the deprav- 
ity of the heart, the work of the Spirit, ' ' faith and 
repentance," and holding more tenaciously to their 
water power creed than do the daughters of Rome, 
baptismal regeneration is more fatal to souls, in Camp- 
bellite hands, than it is in the hands of Rome and most 
of her other daughters. 

Campbellism results in changing the songs of grace 
to read: 

There is a fountain filled with water, 

Drawn from the clouds of rains ; 
And sinners plunged beneath the water 

Lose all their guilty stains — stains. 

Or- 

Amazing baptism, how sweet the sound, 

That^saved a wretch like me ; 
I once was lost but now I'm fonnd, 

Was blind but now I see. 

'Twas baptism that's brought me safe thus far, 

And baptism will briDg me home. 
How precious did that baptism appear 

The hour I first received. f 



f This poetry is made to match the beauties of Campbellism. 
I am not, therefore, chargable with its literary merits. 



296 



THE BIBLE AGAINST 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE BIBLE ON BAPTISMAL REGENERATION, FAITH , 

HOW THE PENITENT ACCEPTS CHRIST AND IS SAVED, 
AND THE DESIGN OF BAPTISM. 

Section I. But one salvation. All the saved, of 
all ages, saved by the same plan, and in the same way. 

1. Salvation means, primarily, to save from sin. 
< 'And thou shalt call his name Jesus ; for it is he that 
shall save his people from their sins." — Matt. 1:21. 
"I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit 
within you, . . . that they mav walk in my statutes, 
and keep mine ordinances, and do them." — Ezek. 
11 :20. Salvation, secondarily, means deliverance 
from the penalty, due the sinner. 

This is implied in saving from sin. But it is ex- 
pressed : "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the 
law, having become a curse for us."— Gal. 3: 13. 
"But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was 
bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our 
peace was upon him ; and with his stripes we are 
healed. All we like sheep have gone astray . . and the 
Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all."— Isa. 
53:5,6, etc. 

2. There is but one Savior for all men, of all ages. 
"And in none other name is there salvation; for 
neither is there any other name under heaven, that is 
given among men, wherein we must be saved." Acts 
4:12; Gen. 3:15; Gal. 3:8. Before Christ's death 



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297 



they trusted Him, as the one Redeemer ; since His 
death, we do the same. Their faith looked forward ; 
ours looks back. As the head-light of a locomotive is 
the same light, when placed in its rear as its front, so 
the faith tha,t looks back to Christ is the faith that 
looked forward to Him. By the blood and only the 
blood have all ages been saved. 

3. Sinners, of all ages, have received the same re- 
generation. The Psalmist's prayer : 1 ' Create in me a 
clean heart, O God," — Psa. 51: 10, — is as necessary 
to-day as in his day. As true to-day as in Moses' day, 
is : "The Lord thy God will circumcise thy heart . . . 
to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart." — Deut. 
30:6. 

4. Sinners, of all ages, have been regenerated by 
the Holy Spirit. The Scriptures, under argument "3" 
sustain this. But they expressly speak : "Thy Spirit 
is good ; lead me in the land of uprightness;" — Psa. 
143:10 — "Thou gavest also thy good Spirit to in- 
struct them ;" — Neh.9 :20— "My Spirit shall not strive 
with man forever :" — Gen. 6:3 — "Turn you at my re- 
proof : Behold, I will pour out my Spirit unto you ; ' ' 
— Prov. 1 : 23 — "I have covenanted with you when 
ye came out of Egypt: and my Spirit abode among 
you;" — Hag. 2:5 — "and take not thy Holy Spirit 
from me ;" — Psa. 51 :11 — "not by might nor by pow- 
er, but by my Spirit saith the Lord of Hosts;" — 
Zech.4 :6 — "Whom I have filled with the Spirit of wis- 
dom." — Ex. 28:3. These are but few of many such 
Scriptures. To be sure, some of these Scriptures 
speak of the Spirit as being within believers ; but, as 
that implies having first regenerated them, — made them 
believers — these Scriptures establish the fact that the 
Spirit of God was the regenerating One, in the Old 



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Testament. Every Scripture which speaks of or al- 
ludes to believers in the Old Testament times, im- 
pliedly states that the Spirit regenerated them. 

5. In all ages the Holy Spirit dwelt in, sanctified 
and preserved God's people. The Scriptures, ad- 
duced under argument "4" are applicable to this. In 
addition to those, see Gen. 41: 38; Job 10:12; Psa. 
31:23; 37:28; 97:10; 116:6; Prov. 2 : 8. These 
Scriptures, in that God works through His Spirit, 
imply the indwelling and care of the Holy Spirit. 

6. In all ages repentance has been necessary for 
God's pardon and favor. 6 'Wherefore I abhor myself 
and repent ;" — Job 42 :6 — "If that nation, concerning 
which I have spoken, ^rafrom their evil ;" — Jer.18 : 
8 — "Return ye and turn yourselves from your idols; 
and turn away your faces from all your abomina- 
tions ;" — Ezek. 13:14 — Yea, let them turn every one 
from his evil way ;" — Jonah 3: 8 — "The Lord is nigh 
unto them that are of a broken heart, and saveth such 
as be of a contrite spirit; — Psa. 34:18 — "The sac- 
rifices of God are a broken spirit : a broken and a con- 
trite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise." — Psa. 51 : 
17. 

7. In all ages holiness has been indispensable for a 
man to be good and acceptable to God. "Sanctify 

yourselves and be ye holv; for I am the Lord 

your God."— Lev. 20 : 7; 1 Chron. 16 : 29 ; 20 : 21 ; 
Ps. 29 :2 ; Deut. 32 :4 ; 2 Chron. 19:7. Eepentance 
implies that no man can be one of the Lord's people 
without holiness ; but, in the interest of practical life, 
I have made this a distinct point. It is, in truth, a 
part of the last point; and followed, next in order, by 
faith . 

8. Faith alone has brought the penitent sinner into 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 



299 



forgiveness, justification, the family and the peace of 
God — saved him. 

Section II. Old Testament testimony. Penitent 
means: 6 ' Suffering pain or sorrow of heart on 
account of sins, crimes or offenses; repentant; con- 
trite; sincerely affected by a sense of guilt, and resolv- 
ing an amendment of life." — Webster's Unabridged 
Die. In this sense I use the word. 

(l)The first sinner, of whom we have clear record of 
being saved, was saved by faith. 4 'By faith Abel offered 
unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through 
which he had witness borne to him that he was right- 
eous, God being witness in respect of his gifts." 
Bengel : "defjz," (di hees, rendered through which) 
means that "he, by faith obtained both righteousness 
and the testimony of righteousness." — in I. See Matt. 
Henry, A. Clarke, on Gen. 4 :4. The Apostle is not 
to be understood to say that Abel then obtained right- 
eousness and the testimony that he was righteous. He 
ivas — swac — einai — pres. inf. The present infin- 
itive not only expresses "an action just taking place," 
but, also, expresses the results of that action "contin- 
uing or frequently repeated." — Winer's JV. 1\ Gr.,p, 
332. Besides the present infinitive is often used for 
the aorist — past — infinitive. — Idem. Einai expresses 
the idea of Abel's faith, by which he i( "was" previously 
justified, here, in its results, repeating itself, during 
which his faith was confirmed by clear evidence that he 
had been accepted. 

( 2) "By faith Noah, being warned of God concern- 
ing things not seen as yet, moved with godly fear, 
prepared an ark to the saving of his house ; through 
which he condemned the world, and became heir of the 
righteousness which is according to faith."~-Reh. 11 : 



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7. Bengel : dc r r^ (di hees, by which) viz., faith, 
v. 4." — inl. Matt. Henry: "His righteousness was 
relative, resulting from his adoption through faith in 
the promised Seed."— in I. So Adam Clarke. In 
that Noah (a) preached 120 years before the ark was 
complete, (b) and in that he is, while he preached, 
called a "preacher of righteousness," — 2 Pet. 2:7 — - 
said to have "found grace in the eyes of the 
Lord," and to have been "a just man and perfect 
in his generation," and to have "walked with God" — 
Gen. 6 :8, 9 — it is very certain that this righteousness 
was obtained "through" "faith," before he began 
to build the ark. Hence, Campbellites miscon- 
strue this — the one concerning Abel, too — Scrip- 
ture, when they make the building of the ark one 
of the means by which Noah was saved. From these 
two examples, inasmuch as God did not have dif- 
ferent ways by which He joined works to faith, 
that every one, mentioned in Heb. 11, and in the age 
of which it speaks, was saved by faith, "ivithout 
works," Paul's expression, in Rom. 4:6 — is absolutely 
certain. This, Alexander Campbell was forced to 
concede. He says : "No man could now be pardoned 
as Abel was — as Enoch was — as David was — as the 
thief on the cross was." — Quoted in Text Booh Ex- 
posed, p. 65, by Text Book on Camph., p. 211 ,fro7n 
Christianity Restored, p. 247 . Had Mr. Campbell 
not presumed that we are now living under what is, in 
fact, his Romish dispensation, of baptismal regenera- 
tion, he would not have said that no man can now be 
saved as he was then saved. For the very reason that 
the plan of salvation has never been changed, Paul is 
able to preach the Gospel by these very illustrious ex- 
amples — in Heb. 11 — of its working. While the cases 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION . 



301 



of Abel and Noah make certain that under the Old 
Testament penitent sinners were saved by faith only, I 
notice, (3) Abraham's case, as it figures so pointedly 
in the New Testament, as an illustration of the plan of 
salvation. "For what saith the Scriptures? And Abra- 
ham believed God, and it was reckoned unto him for 
righteousness." — Eom. 4:3; Gal. 3:6. Gen. 15:6, 
records it: "And he believed in the Lord and He 
counted it to him for righteousness." Evidently this 
is the record of Abraham's finding the peace of the 
Lord. The "in the Lord" — mn — is rightly ren- 
dered in Conant's Version, "in Jehovah." The He- 
brew rendered Jehovah, is now, by the ablest scholars, 
regarded as the third person, singular, masculine, sub- 
stantive verb of rrn — Hauya, to be. Oehler and 
Delitzsch remark that "the heathen regarded the reve- 
lation of their gods as almost a thing exclusively of 
the past, but this name shows God was revealing Him- 
self constantly and progressively. Their God was a 
God of the future as well as a God of the past." So 
Ewald, Hengstenberg, Kurtz, etc. The name is ex- 
plained as denoting Jesus ; — "which was, which is and 
which is to come." — Rev. 1 :4. That is, God is ever 
revealing Himself in new relations to His people. The 
name, Jehovah, therefore, includes the promise of re- 
vealing Himself as the Savior — I am that I shall be as 
Redeemer. Abraham believed in God, not simply as 
Lord, but is recorded to have believed in Him as Je- 
hovah — the I am to be — the Redeemer. The hiphil — 
— heemin, rendered believed, means he was 
caused, or by grace caused himself, to build upon, 
stay upon — rest all in God. Grace caused his soul to 
rest all in Him who is, and was "to be" his Savior. 
That all may clearly understand that the works of 



302 



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Abraham were performed after he was justified, Paul 
says: 6 6 How then was it reckoned? when he was in 
circumcision or uncircumcision?" — Rom. 4:10. Paul 
here alludes to Gen. 17 : 10-24, where Abraham is re- 
corded to have been circumcised. According to the 
chronology, in the margin of our Bibles, this took 
place 25 years after Abraham was justified by faith. 
Tholuck: "The declaration of God, wherein he justi- 
fied Abraham for the sake of his faith, was made, if 
not twenty-five, at the least, fifteen years anterior to 
the introduction of circumcision." — On Rom. 4:10. 
M. E. Lard, the Goliath of Campbellism, says: "How 
long Abraham had been justified when he received the 
mark of circumcision cannot confidently be said. It 
was certainly more than 13 years, at which time Ish- 
mael was 13 years old, and he was justified before 
Ishmael's birth. This is quite sufficient for Paul's 
purpose. This object was certainly to show that 
Abraham was certainly justified before he was circum- 
cised; and this in order to settle the question that the 
blessedness of justification is not confined to circum- 
cision. " — Quoted in the Frost-Tyler Discussion. Can- 
on Farrar : "Now this imputation can have nothing 
to do with circumcision, because the phrase is used of 
a time before Abraham was circumcised, and circum- 
cision was only a sign of the righteousness imputed to 
him because of his faith, that he might be regarded as 
the father of the faithful, whether they be circum- 
cised or not." — Life of St. Paul, p. 361, Funk's 
edition. To enforce this argument, Paul says: "He 
believed in God who quickeneth the dead, and calleth 
the things which are not as though they were." — v. 17. 
That is, he trusted God to quicken the dead womb of 
Sarah. — Tholuck, on v. 19, Crysostom, Matt. Henry, 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 



303 



et. al. "Who in hope believed against hope, to the 
end that he might become a father of many nations, 
according to that which had been spoken, so shall 
thy seed be. And without being weakened in faith he 
considered his own body now as good as dead (he being 
about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sa- 
rah's womb : Yea, looking unto the promise of God, 
he wavered not through unbelief, but waxed strong 
through faith, giving glory to God, and being fully 
assured that, what he had promised, he was able also 
to perform," verses 18-21. Here, Abraham seeing, 
absolutely, nothing in himself or in his wife upon 
which he could possibly hope for Isaac to be born, il- 
lustrates the penitent sinner. The penitent sinner has 
no good works to rely on — nothing! nothing ! ! But 
as Abraham believed God, who quickeneth the dead, 
and calleth the things that are not as though they 
were," the penitent sinner trusts God for righteous- 
ness as though he were as righteous as God. As 
Abraham, by faith, received a son as though he and 
Sarah were not dead, the penitent sinner, by faith, re- 
ceives the righteousness as though he had been able to 
work out that righteousness himself. As God justi- 
fied — saved Abraham by such faith in Him, He justifies 
the sinner by such faith in Him. Thus Abraham is 
justified when wholly unable to beget a son and so the 
sinner is justified when wholly unable to produce good 
works. After being justified, or saved, God renders 
Abraham able to beget a son ; after being justified— 
saved — God puts the penitent sinner where he pro- 
duces good works. Thus Abraham believed, was justi- 
fied — saved in order to work ; the penitent sinner is 
likewise justified —saved to work. The same Apostle 
says that we are ' ' Created in Christ Jesus for good 



304 



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works." — Eph. 2: 10. Abraham worked because he 
was saved ; the penitent sinner works because he is 
saved. Paul, farther, leaves no one to doubt that 
thus, when works were beyond the possibility of oar 
doing them, we are saved ; or, — in his own words, of 
v. 6, that we receive our salvation "without," or 
"apart from works:" — "Is this blessing pronounced 
upon the circumcision" — i. e., those who work for it 
— "or upon the uncircumcision" ? — i. e., those who do 
not work to be saved. "For we say, To Abraham his 
faith was reckoned for righteousness. " — v. 9. "Now 
it was not written for his sake alone" — Paul had not 
progressed so far as to say with Alexander Campbell, 
that "no man can now be pardoned as Abel — as Enoch 
— as David was — as the thief upon the cross was" — 
"that it was reckoned unto him ; but for our sake also 
who believe on him that raised our Lord from the 
dead." — v. 24. "Seeing that now, under the New 
Testament, there obtains a system of imputation by 
free grace, we are entitled to look back upon the Old, 
and if we find any similar case, to apply the particu- 
lar circumstances of it to ourselves." — Tholuck on 
Rom. 4:24. Bengel : "The faith of Abraham was 
directed to that, which was about to be, and which 
could come to pass, ours to that w T hich has actually 
taken place ; the faith of both is directed to the 
Quickener [Him who makes alive]. On Rom. 4:24. 
Matt. Henry : "It was not intended for an historical 
commendation of Abraham, or a relation of some- 
thing peculiar to him ; no, the Scripture did not in- 
tend to describe some singular way of justification 
that belonged to Abraham as his prerogative. The 
accounts of the Old Testament saints were not inten- 
ded for histories, only, barely to inform and divert us, 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 



305 



but for precedents to direct us, for ensarnples, 1 Cor. 
10 :11 : for our learning* ch. 15 :4. . . . the grace of 
God is the same yesterday, to-day and forever." — 
On Rom. 4:23-25. Instead of there being a new 
plan of salvation, a new way to be saved, as Camp- 
bellites teach, Abraham is yet, and ever will be, the 
father of all them that believe;" and the Old Testa- 
ment Scriptures are yet "able to make thee wise unto 
salvation through faith which is in Jesus Christ." — 
2 Tim. 3: 15. 

Objection. The Campbellites, unable to do any- 
thing with this argument, are content to make James 
contradict Paul. So they reply: "But, James says 
that Abraham was 'justified by works when he offered 
up Isaac his son upon the altar." — James 2: 21. In 
refutation, I first ask: Are not you, my Campbellite 
friend, under some obligation to meet my argument, 
from Paul's words, in Eom. 4, before you merely 
quote James, as seemingly contradicting Paul? 

Second. Is it any credit to any church, when a man 
is incontrovertibly proved by plain Scripture to have 
been saved — Eom. 4 :3-ll — to appeal to an occurrence 
which took place in his life, thirty-one years after he 
was saved, to prove that he was not then saved? Yet, 
this is what all Campbellites do, when they array 
James against Paul. Why? Plain enough "why," 
for any man who can read his Bible, by comparing 
Gen. 15 : 6 — where Genesis and Paul say Abraham 
was saved — with Gen. 22nd chapter, where Abraham 
is recorded to have offered Isaac, can clearly see that 
Abraham did not offer Isaac until several years after 
he was saved. According to the chronology in the 
margin of our Bible, Isaac was offered forty-one years 
after Abraham was justified. Yet, an occurrence 



306 



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which took place forty-one years after God is recorded 
to have "justified" a man, must be seized upon to 
prove that He did not then "justify" him ! And why? 
Simply to prop up Campbellism — that and nothing 
else. If our Campbellite friends could but get their 
eyes one-hundredth part of the way open they could 
see better than to thus distort God's holy Word; for 
Isaac w T as not born until, from fifteen to twenty-five 
years, after Abraham, in Gen. 15:6; Rom. 4:5, is 
declared to have been "justified," counted as right- 
eous — saved! Compare Gen. 15 :6 with Gen. 21 :2,3. 
One leading Campbellite preacher, Mr. H. D. Bantau, 
being crushed with this, in a debate with the writer — 
resorted to the shift of denying that righteousness, in 
Rom. 4, means salvation! For the credit of even 
fallen man I sincerely hope that no other intelligent 
human being has ever made this resort. But, as 
Campbellites may think that there is argument in Mr. 
Bantau' s resort, I stop, one moment, to place this 
beyond even Campbellite controversy. 

(a) Tsedaquah (npns), rendered "righteousness," 
in Gen. 15 :16, is from tsaudaq, ( pTj), "to be right, 
to be just, righteous, .... to be in the right ; to be 
righteous, upright, good ; to make righteous, upright, 
innocent." — Ges ' Lex. Heb. Hence, tsedaquah 
means, "rectitude, right .... in private persons, 
righteousness, integrity, virtue, piety." — Ges. y Lex. 
Heb. Robinson' s Greek Lex. says that dikaiosunee 
(or/acoavvy) , which is the New Testament word for 
tsedaquah, means "rectitude, uprightness, righteous- 
ness, virtue." Paul uses dikaiosunee, in Rom. 4, for 
tsedaquah. From the definition of the word, in He- 
brew lexicons, and from the Greek w T ord which Paul 
uses, to tell us that "righteousness" w r as "imputed" 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 



307 



to Abraham, it is certain that God "imputed" to 
Abraham the righteousness which Christ, in all ages, 
imputes to the penitent, believing soul. With one ex- 
ception, the dikaiosunee family are the only Greek New 
Testament words for righteousness. Paul, therefore, 
(b) uses the word, in the New Testament, rendered 
"righteousness," to tell us that Abraham had right- 
eousness imputed to him for his faith, (c) That 
Abraham was made truly righteous, at that time, — 
saved, all writers, worthy of mention, agree. As rep- 
resenting the voices of Bible students, Adam Clarke 
comments: "This, I conceive to be one of the most 
important passages in the whole Old Testament. It 
properly contains and specifies the doctrine of justifi- 
cation by faith, which engrosses so considerable a 
share of the Epistles of St. Paul, and at the founda- 
tion of which, is the atonement made by the Son of 
God: and he (Abram) believed (po^n, heemin, he 
put faith) in Jehovah ^ rawi vaiyachsheha lo, and he 
counted it — the faith he put in Jehovah, to him for 
righteousness, npH¥ tsedakah, or justification ; though 
there was no act in the case, but that of the mind and 
heart, no tcork of any kind. Hence, the doctrine of 
justification by faith, without any merit of icorhs; for 

in this case there could be none See Eom. 4." 

— On Gen. 15:6, see Tholuck, Bengel, Matt. Henry, 
Scott, Conant, Harless, etc. (d) Paul, by the case of 
David, makes it certain that the righteousness that 
Abraham then received was the true righteousness. He 
continues : "Even as David also pronounceth blessing 
upon the man unto whom God reckoneth righteousness 
apart from works"' — he here quotes from Ps. 32 — 
saying: "Blessed are they whose iniquities are 
forgiven, and wdiose sins are covered. Blessed is 



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the man to whom the Lord will not reckon 
sin." — Eom. 4:7,8. Here, he says the righteous- 
ness which Abraham had received — in Gen. 15 :6 — 
involved his being "forgiven ," having his sins "cov- 
ered" and having no sin reckoned to him. "According 
to the opinion of commentators, this Psalm was com- 
posed after David's transgression with Bathsheba. It 
was consequently very well adapted to the purpose of 
St. Paul; for at that time it must have been very nat- 
ural for the fallen king to look entirely away from 
himself, and appeal only to the Divine mercy." — 
Thohtck, on Rom. 4:6. Paul, in v. 9, proceeds to 
apply David's words to the case of Abraham. With 
these replies and explanations it is left, if possible, 
more than certain that the righteousness which Abra- 
ham received, long before he was circumcised and long- 
before he offered Isaac, was the righteousness which 
every true Christian receives from Christ. Abraham's 
case is the ' 6 thou art weighed in the balances and art 
found wanting," against the whole Romish family, 
from the Pope, of Rome, down to the least Campbell- 
ite. 

Third. But what does James mean, by saying, 
" Was not Abraham our father justified by works, in 
that he offered up Isaac, his son, upon the altar?" In 
answer to this, having proved, beyond a reasonable 
doubt, that James speaks of an occurrence in Abra- 
ham's life, which took place many years after Genesis 
and Paul say that he was made righteous, justified, — 
saved, I am, so far as concerns this controversy , under 
no obligation to explain James' meaning. Were I 
not able to offer a word of explanation upon what 
James means, as Genesis and Paul make it certain that 
Abraham was saved, many years before the time of 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 



309 



which James speaks, that James' statement contains 
not a shadow of support for any of the Romish camp, 
from the Pope down to the least Campbellite, is cer- 
tain. As well claim that Campbellism is true because 
I might not be able to tell what the number "six 
hundred and sixty and sixty-six" — Rev. 13:18 — de- 
notes, as to claim it true because I may not satisfacto- 
rily explain James' meaning. With these preliminary 
remarks, I proceed to explain James' meaning. 

In explanation, (a), keep in mind Paul's statement, 
that Abraham has been a righteous man during many 
years previous to the time of which James speaks. Any 
explanation which makes James contradict Paul, leaves 
upon its face prima facie and conclusive evidence of 
its falsity; and of the falsity of the doctrine that is 
driven to make that explanation. Whatever may be 
the explanation of James, that Abraham was saved 
many years before the time of which James speaks, 
Paul has settled. 

(c. )The persons to whom James wrote and the object 
of his letter. The persons to whom James wrote were 
professors of Christianity. From chapter, 1:,7,8,13, 
15, 19-27, the whole of chapters 2, 3, 4 and the first 
six verses of chapter 5, it is certain that they were 
sadly needing rebukes, exhortations and encourage- 
ments to live according to the high calling. The reader 
will please, here, carefully, read these references. In 
them he will read that many of those to whom Paul 
wrote thought that a profession of faith was sufficient; 
that mere intellectual belief in Christ was equivalent 
to Scriptural faith. Hence James rebukes them for 
"lust:" for worship of "fashion;" for "filthiness ; " 
for "wrath ;" for not governing the "tongue," but 
for having it "set on fire of hell ;" for not caring for 



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the needy; for heaping up earthly " treasure, " etc. ; 
and for being tinctured with Campbellism, in that they 
thought mere intellectual belief was Christian faith : 
"Thou believest that God is one ; thou doest well : the 
devils also believe and shudder." — Ch. 2:19. Says 
Sieffert : "They appealed to their creed rather than to 
their deeds. The object of the Epistle is to check 
these tendencies." — Schaff-Herzog Ency., Ep. Jas. 
"The main object of the Epistle of James is not to 
teach doctrine, but to improve morals. • , . St. James 
was opposing the old Jewish tenet, that to be a child 
of Abraham was all in all, that Godliness was not 
necessary, so that belief was correct.f This presump- 
tive confidence had transferred itself to the Christian- 
ized Jews. It is plain that their faith w r as totally dif- 
ferent from that of St. Paul." — Smith's Bib. Die, 
vol. 2, p. 1209. Paul w T as teaching men how to be 
saved; James w T as teaching them how they must live 
after being saved ; and how they should know whether 
they were saved. (cZ.) In interpreting Paul and James 
we must keep in view the different classes of persons 
to whom they wTote, and the ends they sought to ac- 

f In our churches — of all creeds — to-day, is much of this. 
Men and women who are impure, untruthful, dishonest in busi- 
ness. Then, others, who though free of these things are dead to 
Christian activity, know not what secret or any other prayer is. 
They prove this by having health and time for any other than 
the prayer meeting. Others who love money so well that they 
will see their church houseless, or the door closed. Of course, 
owing to their deeming regeneration net essential to church 
membership, and to their other errors, and their encouraging 
people to unite with them before regeneration, there is far more 
of this among others than among Baptists. But, as it was with 
Baptist Churches, in James' time, our churches need more 
preachers who will tell these members their sins and their lost, 
or at best, their back-slidden condition — preachers whose love 
of money, position and popularity will not prevent them, as it 
did not James, from doing their work of crying aloud and spar- 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 



311 



complish by writing. To produce James, therefore, 
as teaching how the sinner is saved, is like producing 
Paul as teaching how the saved should live, and how 
that they may be certain that they are saved. (Of 
course, both Paul and James especially teach both 
these classes; but not in Rom. 4, and James 2). Such 
use of Romans and James is like the nurse who should 
give the medicine which the physician prescribed for 
the patient who has the cholera to the one who has a 
carbuncle. 

(e.) How James doctors these patients. In effect he 
says : 4 'You say that you believe, that you are there- 
fore righteous. Let us see about that. You will 
agree that Abraham's case settles your case. He was 
accounted righteous when Gen. 15 : 6, says that 'he 
believed in Jehovah, and he counted it to him for 
righteousness.' We agree that Abraham then had his 
sins forgiven, and the righteousness of Christ imputed 
to him — that he was saved at that time. But how did 
Abraham afterwards live? Did he think that a mere 
belief — a mere profession was sufficient? Did he live 
as though he felt w 7 ithin himself, 'I am saved, there- 

ing not. — Isa. 51:1. The preachers who are unfaithful render 
this work much more difficult for those who try to be faithful. 
Let us teach the churches that no man is a Baptist simply because 
he is a member of the church, believes in immersion ; but that he 
is a Baptist because God has washed him in the blood of Jesus, 
made hinr i sound"in doctrine and in life. Only such are Baptists; 
only snch "Baptists" will ever reach heaven. But, dear brethren, in 
the ministry, let us thus preach in wisdom and in Iovp. The truth 
may be so preached as to drive men from Christ who would have 
been saved, if it had been preached in wisdom and in love. Per- 
haps, nowhere does a preacher need grace so much as just here- 
to both faithfully and in the Christ-like manner, rebuke. I have 
added this note as some who call themselves "sound Baptists 7 ' 
and love controversy are as far from being saved, as are Camp- 
bellites or any other gross-errorists. — See John 15 :2 : 1 John 2 
3,4; Matt. 7 $20,21. May God save us from hypocrisy ! 



312 



THE BIBLE AGAINST 



fore, how I live is a very unimportant matter 1 ? Let 
us see : When God called him to offer Isaac, did he do 
like you are doing, --say, as I am saved, I need not 
obey? JSTo! But he obediently offered Isaac — in his 
mind. 'Thou seest that faith wrought with his works' 
as proof that it was genuine — that Abraham was saved 
in reality. 4 The devils . . believe and shudder,' but 
they will not obey. Wherein, then, if you do not 
live right, are you different from the devils ? Abra- 
ham proved himself different from the devils by his 
life. Are you proving by your life that you have 
Abraham's faith? If not, how can you be so foolish 
as to presume that you are saved ! 'But wilt thou know, 
O vain man, that faith apart from works is barren' — 
barren of every principle, feeling — fruit of the Spirit, 
and with its possessor, is to be cut down, as the 'bar- 
ren fig tree?' " Such is the meaning of James' words 
to these self-confident and deluded professors. With 
these words he pulls off the thin gauze of a profession, 

"A flag and sign of Love 
Which is indeed but sign;*' — 

A belief that Christianity is to profess, join the 

church, — 

"To wear long faces, just as if our Maker, 
The God of Goodness, was an undertaker, 
Well pleased to wrap the soul's unlucky mien, 
In sorrow's dismal crape or boinbasin." 

May James' words, in all our churches, be heeded 
by- 

"Mistaken souls, that dream of heaven, 
And make their empty boast 
Of inward joys and sins forgiven, 
While they are slaves to lust." 

But, again, I exclaim: What has this rebuke of 
James to do with Paul's directions how to be saved, as 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION . 



313 



drawn from a time in Abraham's life at which he joy- 
fully "believed in Jehovah" and had his faith ''count- 
ed ... . to him for righteousness?" ? 

o 

(f) All that, now, remains, is to point out, or at 
least, suggest the sense in which James uses the word 
"justified." (a) At the very beginning of this inves- 
tigation, we know that he does not use it in the sense in 
which Paul uses it — to denote God's forgiveness, and 
His imputing to us righteousness — salvation. This, 
we have seen, James is not speaking of ; it does not 
allude to the time when Abraham was thus blessed ; 
besides, it would put James in contradiction to Paul.— 
Rom. 4:2; Gal. 2:16; 3:11. (b) In answer to the 
question, I answer : In the Scriptures God is said to 
justify in two senses. First, God justifies in the 
sense of judicially declaring the penitent — and also the 
Christian — washed, forgiven, innocent of sin. Both 
the Old and the New Testament words for justify 
denote subjective and objective justification — that is, 
righteousness of soul and righteousness before the law. 
Of course, this is based on the righteousness of Christ, 
which satisfies the law and makes the soul righteous. 
In these senses Paul, in Rom. 4, uses the word — di- 
Jcaioo and dikaiosunee,( drxacoo, dcxcuoauufj ) the same word 
which James uses. So "justify" is used in Luke 18 : 
14; 13:39 ; Eom. 3:24, 26, 28, 30; 4:2, 5 ; 5:1; Gal. 
2:16, and in Scriptures which are too numerous to 
here refer to. 

Second, God justifies in the sense of approving the 
Christian as true to his profession. He declared that 
"Noah was a righteous man;"— Gen. 6 :9; 1:1 "the 
way of the just is uprightness;" — Isa. 26: 7 — "he is 
just, he shall surely live ;"— Ezek. 18 : 9-—" Ye that 
afflict the just ;"— Amos 5 : 12—" hear" thou from heaven 



314 



THE BIBLE AGAINST 



and do and judge thy servants . . . justifying the 
righteous ;" — 2 Chron. 6: 23 — "say ye to the right- 
eous that it shall be well with him;" — Isa. 3:10. 
These and many other Old Testament Scriptures show 
that God judges men, and that when they are worthy 
of it, He approves or justifies them as true to their 
calling. Turning to the New Testament, we find God 
judging, approving or justifying men according to their 
faithfulness to their profession. Thus John the Bap- 
tist is justified or approved; — Matt. 11:11 — "he that 
serveth Christ is well pleasing." — Rom, 14:18— -"Ap- 
pelles the approved in Christ;" — Rom. 16 :10 — "give 
diligence to present thyself approved unto God;" 2 
Tim. 2:15— "elders that rule well;" 1 Tim. 5: 17— 
"well done good and faithful servant ;" Matt. 25 : 21. 
So the Church at Smyrna,-— Rev. 2 :10 — the Church in 
Philadelphia w r ere especially justified for their faith- 
fulness. Rev. 2:8-10; 3:7-11. These Scriptures, 
incontestably, prove that God justifies his people as 
walking worthy of their calling. Robinson's Lex. de- 
fines dikaioo, rendered "justify;" "To justify, to de- 
clare righteous. God is said to justify a person, to 
regard and treat him as righteous by reckoning or 
imputing to him faith as righteousness. So gener- 
ally, where faith is manifested in works. — Jas. 2:21, 
24, 25." The reader will notice that this Lexicon, in 
the italicised words, at the close of the quotation, 
says that James uses the word in the sense of justi- 
fying men's faith or profession, Greenfield's Lex. 
defines dikaioo : "To acknowledge, to declare any 
one to be what he ought to be, and to treat him as 
such ; to declare one to be blameless or innocent and 
to treat him as such, acquit, absolve; to declare one 
to be good, upright, pious, and to treat him as such, 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 



315 



commend, applaud; to bestow approbation and favor 
so as to receive benefit; to grant forgiveness, pardon 
sin, free from its consequences, justify." So Bag- 
ster's and other Lexicons. We see that the Lexicons 
define the word to denote justification, in the sense of 
pronouncing us saved ; and justification in the sense 
of justifying us as true to our religious profession. In 
this, the Lexicons agree with the numerous Scriptures, 
just quoted and referred to, which speak of God as 
justifying, when we come to Him and afterwards justi^ 
fying us as faithful to our profession. The parables 
of the laborers and of the talents present the justifica- 
tion of our faith as being faithful. So James showed 
them that their faith, instead of being such as could 
be justified — such as would prove them true Chris- 
tians, was only the faith and the life of demons. 
Turning to the record, in Genesis 22, we find Abra- 
ham's history, many years after Gen. 15 :6, records 
him as saved. There we find that Christ said to Abra- 
ham : ' 'For now I know that thou fearest God, see- 
ing that thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son 
from me." — Gen. 22 :12. In other words: "Now I 
pronounce your faith, your profession justified. Gen. 
22 alone, had we no account of Abraham's being 
saved, many years before he offered Isaac, — in Gen. 
15 :6 — shows- Abraham a genuine child of God when 
called to offer Isaac. "Why?" (c) In his ready obe- 
dience — an obedience to which ungodly men are stran- 
gers. Abraham's ready obedience proves him to have 
not possessed "the mind of the flesh" which "is en- 
mity against God" and "is not. subject to the law of 
God, neither indeed can be : and they that are in the 
flesh cannot please God."— Eom. 8 :7,8. (d) Christ 
did not say to him: now I pardon, receive you ; for 



THE BIBLE AGAINST 



this I save you. No ! a thousand times, No ! ! But 
He did say that this act proved Abraham a God-fear- 
ing man : "For now I know that thou fearest God."f 
Paul therefore says : ' 'Abraham being tried offered 
up Isaac. ?? — Heb.ll :17. Peirazomenos (netpa^ojuievoz) 

means "to tempt, to prove, to put to the test 

From the Hebrew, where God is said to try, to prove 
by adversity, the faith and confidence of Christians in 
Him."- Hob.'s Lex. ]¥ausa,( nO!l ) rendered "tempt" 
or try, in Gen. 22:1, means, "to try, to prove any 
one. . . . God is said to try or prove men, i. e. their 
virtue, their faith and obedience. Ex. 15:25; Deut. 
13 :3 ;Ps. 26 :2."-Lex. Heb. Surely, this whole matter 
is plain enough. In it is not even a gimlet hole for 
Campbellism to find refuge. 

tAs different phase of the same interpretation which James' 
words may well include, or at least, imply, I suggest the following : 
Edikaiothee } {edcxcuioOrj) rendered justified, in verses 21, 25, may 
be rendered. justified himself, justified herself. Edikaiothee is third 
person, singular, first aorist, passive, indicative. Now, "several 
verbs have an aorist passive with middle meaning." — HadUy^s 
GreekGrara., Sec. 414. "Although the import of the middle is 
sharply de lined and peculiar, yet in practice, even among the 
best Greek authors, the forms of the middle often blend with 

those of the passive The 1st aorist passive in several 

verbs serves at the same time as 1st aorist middle. — Winers N. T. 
Gram., pp. 254, 2b5 The middle indicates that the subject acts 
upon himself, or permits action upon himself. Winer sa}^s this 
is, also, true of the 2nd and future aorists. As examples of this : 
Proseklithee, {jzpoGEyJdQ'q in best MSS.) is the same person, tense, 
passive, as is edikaiothee, yet it is rendered by the versions as a 
middle— "joined themselves." In James 4:10, tapeinotheete, 
(TaTzecvdjijfjTs) rendered "humble yourselves," is rendered as a 
middle*, yet, it is 1st aorist, imperfect passive. In Acts 21:24, 
agnistheetui, (ayvcaO^rac) is rendered, "purify thyself," — ren- 
dered as a middle ; yet, it is 1st aorist, imperfect, passive. "Some 
tenses peculiar to the middle assume a passive signification." — 
Winer's N, T Gram , p. 255. Thus ebaptisanto {s,fia~TLGavTo) 



BAPTIS3IAL REGENERATION. 



317 



Paul shows how the man is justified, in the sense of 
God saving him ; James shows how he is justified in 
the sense of honoring, justifying his profession, so 
that God justifies him as a professor. Christ is the 
basis of both the>e justifications ; first, in that, by His 
righteousness, we are saved; second, in that, through 
His righteousness and grace, we so honor and justify 
our profession, that God justifies us as professors. 
Hence James says that Abraham, for his godly fear, 
as proved by his obedience, "was called the friend of 
God."— James 2:23; 1 Chron. 20:7. His devotion 
to God proved his friendship. In this vein the poet 
voices true Christian life, as Abraham proved that 
he was living : — 

is rendered, were baptized, while the Greek is 1st aorist,middle — 
they permitted themselves to be baptized — 1 Cor. 10:2 (Meyer et 
ah) Ajjelousasthe^aTzeAO'jGaads) is rendered as passive — 'wash- 
ed" — yet it is 1st aorist, middle — permitted themselves to be 
washed. There can, therefore, be no grammatical reason 
against rendering edikaiothee, in James 2 :21, 25, as a middle. 
It" is just what the translators have doue with tapeinotheetr, 
in chapter 4: 10, and what they have, substantially, often 
done, in exchanging the passive for the middle, and vice versa. 
Thus rendered it means, as do ebaptisanto, and apollousdsthe, in 
1 Cor. 10:2; 6:11, where God baptized and washed thern, but 
where they baptized and washed themselves.by permitting or hav- 
ing it done — submitting to the conditions. So, here, Abram jus- 
tified himself, i. <?., by his works, had God justify him as a pro- 
fesssor, Bv comparing Lam. 3:40; 2 Cor. 13:5; Heb. 11:17; 2 
Cor. 7:11; 2 Tim. 2:15 ; Titus 3:11; Acts 13:46 ;1 John 3:19, 20, 
the reader will see that men's trying, judging, condemning and 
justifying themselves is a prominent teaching of the Bible. We 
try, condemn or justify ourselves as professors, and. in the same 
acts. God so tries, condemns or justifies us. Jsor can dcxacourat, 
in v. 24 (dikaioutai) militate against this.because it is pres. passive; 
for the present passive is also used for the middle. — Winer's N. T. 
Gram, p 254, This foot note is but another phase of the same 
interpretation, given above. It but adds to its force. The sum 
of it is. in justifying ourselves as professors, God justifies us as 
professors. 



318 



THE BIBLE AGAINST 



u Would not my ardent spirit vie 
With angels 'round the throne 
To execute thy sacred will, 
And make thy glory known? 

Would not my heart pour forth its blood 

In honor of Thy name, 
And challenge the cold hand of death 

To damp'n the immortal name?" 

To interpret Abraham's noble act as the act of a 
poor lost sinner, — how little one must know of Chris- 
tianity ! 

ANOTHER OBJECTION. 

Campbellite preachers are fond of telling their audi- 
ences that, inasmuch as the falling of the walls of Jer- 
icho was conditioned on marching around the city one 
time every day, until the seventh, and that day seven 
times; that inasmuch as Naaman's cleansing was con- 
ditioned on his dipping himself into Jordan seven 
times — and such like things, that, therefore, our sal- 
vation is conditioned on and procured through bap- 
tism. (Josh. 6; 2 Kings 5.) Thus the argument is 
syllogized : 

Whatever the Lord required of the Jews in order 
for the walls of Jericho to fall, He requires of us in 
order to our salvation ; 

He required of them, in order for the walls of Jeri- 
icho to fall, that they should march around them every 
day, one time, and the seventh day, seven times ; 

Therefore , He requires us to be baptized in order to 
be saved ! 

Whatever the Lord required of Naaman in order for 
his cleansing, He requires of us in order for our salva- 
tion ; 

He required, in order to Naaman's cleansing, that 
he dip seven times into the Jordan ; 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 



319 



Therefore , He requires, in order to our salvation, 
that we must be baptized ! 

Shades of Aristotle, Hamilton and Kant ! I ask if 
greater absurdities were ever imposed on the world ? 
What have the major propositions to do with these 
conclusions ! Should not any man who can discover 
any relation between the major and the concluding 
propositions be sent to discover the secret of the ori- 
gin, etc., of the pyramids of Egypt ? He should easi- 
ly convert baptizo into rantizo, or perform any other 
wonder. To make the concluding proposition grow 
out of the major the syllogisms, for their last propo- 
sition, must read : Therefore, in order to our salva- 
tion He requires us to march around the walls of Jeri- 
cho once, every six days, and seven times the seventh 
day : — Therefore, He requires us, in order to our sal- 
vation, that we dip ourselves seven times into the Jor- 
dan ! In the first case, the conclusion is in no way re- 
lated to the major proposition; in the second case. the 
reasoning is correct, but the premise as major propo- 
sition is, on all sides, confessedly absurd. What the 
Israelites did, in order to take Jericho, or what Naa- 
man did, in order to be cleansed, has nothing to do 
with how we are to be saved. If the Campbellite 
replies : ' 6 Yes; but it does, in the sense that as the 
Israelites and Naaman had to obey in order to those 
things, so we must obey to be saved." Very well, my 
friend, no one denies that. But, as } x ou acknowledge, 
what they did does not intimate what we must do, 
your argument, while proving that we must obey to 
be saved, does not intimate what act or acts of obedi- 
ence we do to be saved. So far as your argument is 
concerned, that act or those acts, may be, repent, be- 
lieve, be baptized, preach, confess to a priest, do 



320 



THE BIBLE AGAINST 



penance, or kiss the Pope's toe. Never, again, use 
such argument, if you regard either the Bible or 
reason. 

But, there is an argument here against baptismal 
regeneration. " What is that ?" you say. It is this: 
God plainly expressed the conditions of the wall's 
falling, and of Naaman's being cleansed. In those 
conditions were so many marchings around the wall ; 
so many dippings in Jordan, and not a word, any- 
where, that any one could claim, to the contrary. You, 
now, only point to a Scripture which tells us that bap- 
tism is regeneration, that we must be baptized to be 
saved. Here, like Saul, Campbellism falls upon its 
own sword ; for there is no such Scripture. But the 
whole Bible teaches the contrary. And as summari- 
zing and concluding the testimony of the Old Testa- 
ment, we read : 46 To him bear all the prophets wit- 
ness, that through his name every one that believeth on 
him shall receive remission of sins." — Acts 10: 43. 
Adam Clarke : "As Jesus Christ was the sum and the 
substance of the law, and the Mosaic dispensation, so 
all the prophets bear testimony either directly or indi- 
rectly to Him ; and, indeed, without Him and the salva- 
tion He has promised, there is scarcely any meaning in 
the Mosaic economy, nor in most of the allusions of 
the prophets." — in I. Matt. Henry : " The prophets 
did witness this, that through His name, for His sake, 
and on the account of His merit, whosoever believeth in 
Him, Jew or Gentile, shall receive remission of sins. 

It is to be had only through the name of 

Christ, and only by those that believe in his name; 
and they that do so may be assured of it; their sins 
shall be pardoned, and there shall be no condemnation 
to them," — in I. 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 



321 



B a urn gar ten : ''The forgiveness of sins depends ob- 
jectively on the name of Jesus, and subjectively on 
faith."— Apost. Hist, vol. l,p. 268. Hackett : "This 
clause presents two ideas : first, that the condition of 
pardon is faith in Christ ; and secondly, that this con- 
dition brings the attainment of pardon within the 
reach of all; everyone, Jew or Gentile, who believes 
on him shall receive remission of sins." — in I. So 
Doddridge, Bloomfield, Barnes, Meyer, et. al. On 
this, I observe, (a), every penitent is saved by faith 
only, in that name — not a word about any ceremony 
as conditioning salvation ;(&), all the prophets agree in 
testifying that salvation is by faith only, and that in 
Jesus ; (c, ) this Peter produces as teaching how men are 
to be saved under the New Testament :{d), this estab- 
lishes beyond doubt, that, we are under the New Tes- 
tament, saved by the same law that they were saved by 
under the Old. Hence Paul, speaking of only the Old 
Testament, says: "The sacred writings which are"— 
in this dispensation — "able to make thee wise unto 
salvation," — they teach the only plan of salvation, 
how to be saved, etc., — "through faith, which is in 
Christ Jesus."— 2 Tim. 3: 15,16. Be it not over- 
looked, that in this Scripture, Paul joins Peter, in 
Acts 10:43, in saying that the Old Testament, first, 
contains the same law of salvation which the New con- 
tains; and, secondly, that that law is "through faith 
which is in Christ Jesus" — "that through his name ev- 
ery one that believeth on him shall receive remission of 
sins." (e). "All the prophets" mean the Old Testa- 
ment "books," "as also those whose books are not 
extant."- — Bengel in loco, et. al. Hence, before their 



322 



THE BIBLE AGAINST 



baptism, the Holy Spirit "fellj on all them that heard 
the word." — Acts 10 :44. Commenting on this, Hackett 
well remarks : 6 'Hence Peter had not finished his re- 
marks when God vouchsafed this token of his favor. 
Acts 11 :15. . . The miracle proved that the plan of 
salvation which Peter announced was the divine plan, 
and that the faith which secured its blessings to the 
Jew was sufficient to secure them to the Gentile." He 
adds : " A previous submission to the rites of Judaism 
was shown to be unnecessary. It is worthy of note, 
too, that those who received the Spirit in this instance 
had not been baptized nor had the hands of an apostle 
been laid upon them. This was an occasion when men 
were to be taught by an impressive example, how little 
their acceptance with God depended on external 
observances." — in I. And on v. 47, Hackett : 
4 6 Since, uncircumcised, they have believed and re- 
ceived so visible a token of their acceptance with God, 
what should hinder their admission into the Church? 
Who can object to their being baptized, and thus ac- 
knowledged as Christians in full connection with usV" 
Likewise comment Matt. Henry, Adam Clarke, 
Neander, Bengel, etc., (/.) Another consideration must 
be here noted, viz.: "This was the beginning of the 
gospel among the Gentiles. At the beginning of the 
gospel among the Gentiles, Peter emphasizes, that the 
Old Testament law of faith only, on the part of the 
penitent, is the law for the New Testament, for Jew 
and Gentile." See Baumgarten, Olshausen, Adam 
Clarke, etc. Had baptism been a condition of regen- 

f This means the miraculous gift of the Spirit. But, as it im- 
plied the possession of salvation, by its possessor, it answered 
Peter's purpose as well as though it were regeneration. In this 
c se salvation and the miraculous gift were almost simulta- 
neously given. 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 



323 



eration, pardon, etc., to have omitted mentioning 
it here would have been as much adapted to mislead as 
though Peter had designed to mislead. Not only 
this, how much more adapted to mislead, when, not 
only is baptism not mentioned as being any condition 
of salvation ; but these persons are recorded as having 
been saved without baptism, and then commanded to 
be baptized after having been saved. Baptism, the 
panacea of spiritual ills; and yet, not mentioned, or 
enjoined until after these Gentile patients are cured ! 
That, too, at the very introduction of the plan of sal- 
vation among the Gentiles!! Why, a Campbellite 
preacher preaches baptismal salvation by day and by 
night. He teaches baptismal salvation "diligently un- 
to thy children," and sa}^s thou "shalt talk of" it 
"when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walk- 
estbytheway, and when thou liest down, and when 
thou risest up and thou shalt bind" this doctrine "for 
a sign upon thine hand, and" it "shall be for front- 
lets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write" 
it "upon the door posts of thy house and upon thy 
gates." — Deut. 6:7-9. Well does Scott comment on 
Acts 10 : 43, etc. : "What will become of those who, 
without one tenth of the external appearance of Cor- 
nelius' piety and charity, presume that they should go 
to heaven on the score of their good works, and reject 
the way of salvation by faith in Christ Jesus?" 

Section III. JSTeio Testament Testimony. It may be 
well objected that, in examining the testimony of the 
Old Testament I have made sufficiently clear the testi- 
mony of the New, — that the penitent sinner is saved by 
faith "without works" — faith only. — Rom. 3 :28 ; 4 : 
6. But the Bomish doctrine of baptismal regenera- 
tion, from the Pope down to the most obscure Camp- 



324 



THE BIBLE AGAINST 



bellite, is kept so prominently before a lost world, and 
so fundamental is justification by faith only, that I must, 
in the treatment of this subject, give 6 'precept upon 
precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line 
upon line ; here a little" — of the mass of Scriptures — 
and "there a little."— Jer. 28 :10. 

Before taking up the New Testament testimony, I 
must remind the reader that , in the demonstration that 
the Gospel was preached, before the day of Pentecost, 
both under the Old Testament and under that part of 
the New, between the beginning of John's ministry 
and Pentecost, is swept away, as with a cyclone, the 
Campbellite attempt to rule out the testimony of the 
Gospels on the plan of salvation. Beyond the shadow 
of a reasonable doubt I have demonstrated that "That 
the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son 
of God," under the New Testament, began with 
John's preaching. Mark 1 :l-6. I shall not, there- 
fore, stop to refute the Campbellite objections: — 
4 4 Oh ! that was before Pentecost," for that is done in 
the chapter on the Gospel preached, the Church, the 
kingdom in existence before the day of Pentecost. 
Here turn to and read Chapter X of this book. If 
you have not read it be sure to do so at this point. 

1. The first New Testament proof that the penitent 
is saved by faith "apart from the works of the law," 
— "apart from works" — by faith only, is the case of 
Cornelius and his house. Acts 10 :44-48. In closing 
the testimony of the Old Testament, I said all I desire 
to say upon this argument. 

2. "He that believeth on Him is not judged: he that 
believeth not has been judged already, because he 
hath not believed in the name of the only begotten 
Son of God."— John 3:18. 



BAPTISMAL BEGENEKATION. 



325 



Whatever saves from judgment or condemnation 
saves from sin ; 

Believing in Jesus saves from judgment or condem- 
nation ; 

Therefore, believing in Jesus saves from sin. 

Nothing more than that which saves from judgment or 
condemnation is the condition of salvation ; 

Believing in Jesus saves from judgment or condemna- 
tion ; 

Therefore, nothing more than belief in Jesus is the 
condition to salvation. 

3. "For God so loved the world that He gave His 
only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him 
should not perish, but have eternal life." — John 3 :16. 

Whosoever does not perish has remission of sins — 
saved ; 

All who believe do not perish — saved ; 
Therefore, all who believe have remission of sins — 
saved. 

Whoever has eternal life is saved ; 
All who believe in Jesus have eternal life; 
Therefore, all who believe in Jesus are saved. 
Whatever gives eternal life gives remission of sins — 
saves ; 

Believing into Jesus gives eternal life ; 
Therefore, believing into Jesus gives remission of sins- 
saves. 

Nothing more than what gives eternal life is neces- 
sary to the remission of sins — to salvation ; 

Believing in Jesus gives eternal life, remission of sins 
— saves ; 

Therefore, nothing more than belief into Jesus is neces- 
sary to remission of sins — to salvation. 

4. "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wil- 



326 



THE BIBLE AGAINST 



derness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; 
that whosoever believeth in him may have eternal 
life."— John 3:15. 

Apply the above syllogisms to this Scripture. 

Whosoever complies with the condition on which 
eternal life may be had in Jesus is saved ; 

Belief is that condition ; 
Therefore, all who believe in Jesus are saved. 
All who believe in Jesus are saved ; 
All candidates for baptism — Campbellites themselves 
being witnesses — must believe in Jesus before 
they have been baptized : 
Therefore, all candidates for baptism are saved — be- 
fore being baptized. 
Only what is necessary to salvation saves ; 
Faith saves ; 

Therefore, "faith only" is necessary to salvation. 

"The found ition of all is the everlasting love of 
God towards the world : the aim and end of all is eter- 
nal life derived from God and consummated in Him : 
the means connecting these is faith only." — 8 tier — 
Words of Jesus, Vol. 4, 465 ; So Bengel, Adam 
Clarke, 8cott, Matt. Henry, Olshausen, et al. 

5. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believ- 
eth hath eternal life." — John 6 :47. 
Whoever has eternal life has remission of sins — saved ; 
Whoever believes has eternal life ; 
Therefore whoever believes has remission of sins — 
saved. 

Whoever believes has eternal life, remission of sins 
— saved ; 

Whoever is a fit candidate for baptism believes; 
Therefore whoever is a fit candidate for baptism has 
remission of sins — saved — before being baptized. 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 



327 



All who have remission of sins — saved — before being 
baptized — 

Are not baptized in order to remission of sins — to be 
saved ; 

All who are to be baptized have remission of sins — 

saved — before being baptized ; 
Therefore all who are being baptized are not baptized 

in order to remission of sins — to be saved. 
The last syllogism is premised upon the two preced- 
ing ones. 

Adam Clarke : ' ' 'Hath everlasting life.' He is enti- 
tled to this on his believing me to be the Messiah, 
and trusting m me alone for salvation." — in L 

Objection. 

Alexander Campbell says: "Some captious spirits 
need to be reminded, that as they sometimes find for- 
giveness, justification, sanctifieation, etc.,- — ascribed to 
grace, to the blood of Christ, to the name of the Lord, 
without allusion to faith ; so we sometimes find faith 
and grace, and the blood of Christ without an allusion 
to water. Now,if they have any reason and right to say 
that faith is understood in the one case, we have the 
same reason and right to say that water or immersion 
is understood in the other. For their argument is that 
in sundry places this matter is made plain. This is 
also our argument — in sundry places this matter is 
made plain enough. This single remark cuts off all 
their objections drawn from the fact that immersion is 
not always found in every place where the name of the 
Lord, or faith, is found connected with forgiveness. 
Neither is grace, the blood of Christ, nor faith always 
mentioned with forgiveness. When they find a pas- 
sage where remission of sins is mentioned without im- 



328 



THE BIBLE AGAINST 



mersion, it is weak or unfair, in the extreme, to argue 
from that that forgiveness can be enjoyed without im- 
mersion. If their logic be worth anything it will 
prove that a man may be forgiven without grace, the 
blood of Jesus, and without faith ; for we can find 
passages, many passages, where remission, justifica- 
tion, sanctification, or some similar term occurs, and 
no mention of either grace, faith or the blood of Jesus. 
As this is the pith, the marrow, and fatness of all the 
logic of our most ingenious opponents on this subject, 
I wish I could make it more emphatic than by print- 
ing it in capitals. I know some editors, some doctors 
of divinity, some of our most learned declaimers,who 
make this argument, which we unhesitatingly call a 
genuine sophism, the alpha and omega of their speech- 
es against the meaning and indispensable importance 
of immersion or regeneration, "-iw Hand's Text Book 
Exposed, p. 59. I have copied this lengthy quotation 
because Mr. Campbell's followers parade it, all over 
the country, with as much trust in it as the Eomanists 
trust the body of saints which they carry through 
cities of the old world, to bring rain. In answer to 
this, first, Mr. Campbell, herein, admits that there are 
several passages wherein salvation is ascribed to faith 
alone without mentioning baptism. Second : Inas- 
much as there is not a passage of Scripture — Camp- 
bellites themselves being witness — which ascribes sal- 
vation to baptism alone — without faith Mr. Campbell's 
sword thrusts through only its owner. Third : But 
the sophistry of this Campbellite objection is evident 
when the question of debate is clearly stated. 

The question between Baptists and Campbellites is: 
The blood, the grace, the name of Christ, repent- 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 



329 



ANCEt ALL THE THINGS WHICH MAKE THE SINNER 

READY TO TAKE THE LAST STEP TO BE SAVED, HAYING 
TAKEN PLACE,— WHAT IS THAT LAST STEP? Baptists af- 
firm that it is faith; Campbellites affirm that it is bap- 
tism. 

Baptists produce a vast arrav of Scriptures which 
presume the other steps to have been taken or that 
they are to be understood as necessary, and mention 
faith as the last step. That it is the last step is clear, 
in that it saves the sinner. Nowhere in the Bible can 
Campbellites find baptism as the last, — or as any 
other step to salvation. But baptism is presented, 
in the Scriptures, as coming after remission and as a 
profession of its having been received. 

With this demolition of the Campbellite fortress 
I proceed to my arguments. 

6. "For this is the will of my Father, that every 
one that beholdeth the Son, and believeth on him, 
should have eternal life;'' — John 6 :40. Beholding the 
Son is equivalent to considering the evidences of His 
claims. 

All who fully conform to God's will shall be saved ; 
It is His will that to be saved all believe on Him ; 
Therefore all who believe on Him are saved. 

Nothing, necessary to salvation, is unexpressed in 
what Jesus says is, fully, the will of God, to be saved ; 

Jesus does not express baptism as a part of the will 
of God, to be saved ; 

Therefore baptism is not necessary to salvation. 

Every one who believes on the Son has eternal life; 

t Of course, what the Campbellites call repentance and these 
other preparatory steps are not what the Scriptures call repent- 
ance, etc. But this question remands the nature of repentance, 
etc., as concerns discussion, to the point in this book on repent- 
ance, etc. 



330 



THE BIBLE AGAINST 



Every fit candidate for baptism believes on the Son ; 
Therefore every fit candidate for baptism has eternal 
life. 

Stier: 6 'The will of the Father is conditioned by 

faith The believing makes the soul capable 

of and ready for eating." — Words of Jesus, Vol. 5, 
p. 171. Koos : ''He who cometh to Him in faith 
will no more suffer hunger or thirst." — Idem; Adam 
Clarke, etc. 

7. "Whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall 
never die." — John 11:26. See Olshausen et ah, in I. 

Every fit candidate for baptism believes in Jesus; 
All who believe in Jesus shall never die ; 
Therefore, every fit candidate for baptism shall never 
die. 

All who shall never die are pardoned — saved ; 
Every fit candidate for baptism — because a believer in 

Jesus — shall never die; 
Therefore, every fit candidate for baptism is pardoned 

— saved. 

All who believe are in a never-dying state — saved ; 
Every fit candidate believes ; 

Therefore, every fit candidate for baptism is in a never- 
dying state — saved. 
In the words of Jesus : "Believest thou this?" Tho- 
luck : "He is the vanquisher of death for the dead 
and for the living : faith is in both cases the condi- 
tion." — in L; Adam Clarke; Matt. Henry; Stier; 
Etc. 

8. Like the Campbellites, the Jews thought they 
must work to be saved, and asked Jesus: "What 
must we do, that we may work the works of God?" 
To this, Jesus answered : "This is the work of God, 
that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." Jno.6 :29. 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 



331 



The only 6 'work" necessary to salvation is to believe 
on Jesus ; 

Every fit candidate for baptism believes on Jesus ; 
Therefore, every fit candidate for baptism has done the 

only "work" which is necessary to salvation. 
Nothing but belief in Jesus answers for the "work" 

of God ; 
Baptism is not belief in Jesus ; 

Therefore, baptism will not answer for the "w r ork" of 
God. 

Every one who has done the only "work" which 
God requires, in order to salvation, is saved ; 

That only work is, "that ye believe on him whom he 
hath sent," — 

As every one that believes in Jesus has done that 
work, — 

Therefore, every one that believes in Jesus is saved. 

Stier : "Salvation is the gift, but faith is the instru- 
ment of its reception on the part of man." — Words 
of Jesus, Vol. 5, p. 158; so Adam Clarke, Tholuck, 
Matt. Henry, f Olshausen, Bloomjield, et al. 

The passage says : As you can do nothing to save 
yourselves, I do all that is necessary to your salvation. 
By believing on me this work of mine becomes yours ; 
in the sight of the law and in its spirit it enters into 
you and becomes }^our life. 

t Beza and Scott: "Should any one apply to a physician and 
ask him for what sum of money he would undertake to cure him, 
and the physician should answer in these words : All the money 
which I require is, that you confide in me; who would, from 
such an answer, conclude that this confidence was in fact money, 

which the physician demanded of the sick man? They 

are therefore evidently ridiculous, who from this passage, infer 
that faith is a work, and that we are justified hy our works." 



332 



THE BIBLE AGAINST 



"Nothing, either great or small, 
Kemains for me to do ; 
Jesus died and paid it all, 
Yes, all the debt I owe. 

Weary, working, plodding one, 

Oh, wherefore toil you so? 
Cease your 'doing' — all was done, 

Yes, ages long ago." 

9. "These are written that ye might believe that 
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God ; and that believing 
ye may have life in his name." — John 20 :3i. 

Whatever gives life gives salvation ; 
"Believing ye may have life" ; 
Therefore, by believing we have salvation. 

Whoever believes has "life in his name" : 
Every fit candidate for baptism believes ; 
Therefore, every fit candidate for baptism has "life 
in his name." 
Whoever has "life in his name" is not baptized in 
order to receive that life ; 
Every fit candidate for baptism has "life in his 
name" ; 

Therefore, every fit candidate for baptism is not bap- 
tized in order to receive that life. 

"Believing we rejoice 

To see the curse removed. " 

10. "He that believeth on me as the Scripture hath 
said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." 
—John 7:38. 

"Rivers of living water" flow only from the saved; 
They flow from all who believe; 
Therefore, all who believe are saved. 

Stier: "He only who has come to the fountain 
with full trust and confidence can and will drink 
thereof."— Words of Jesus, Vol. 5, p. 290. Matt. 
Henry: "To come to Christ is to believe on Him as 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 



333 



the Scripture hath said." — in I.; so Adam Clarke, 
Olshausen, et al. 

11. ' 'Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is 
begotten of God." — 1 John 5:1. 

All who believe are begotten of God; 

All who are fit for baptism believe; 

Therefore, all w T ho are fit for baptism have been be- 
gotten of God. 
If we are begotten of God before baptism, w 7 e are 
not baptized in order to be begotten of God ; 

We are begotten of God before baptism ; for we then 
"believe" — 

Therefore, we are not baptized in order to be begotten 
of God. 

The context shows that John speaks to persons who 
had been some time in the new life ; that he, therefore, 
makes faith the evidence of the new life. This faith is 
known by the love spoken of in the chapter. The love 
is known — Christian tested — by obedience. Campbell- 
ites reverse this and make the obedience the means in- 
stead of the evidence of salvation. Adam Clarke : 
" He that believeth that Jesus is the Messiah, and con- 
fides in Him for the remission of sins, is begotten of 
God; and they who are pardoned and begotten of God 
love him." — in I. When ye say that those who be- 
lieve are not begotten and born of God until they are 
baptized "ye do err not knowing the Scriptures." 

12. "Be it known unto you .... that through 
this man is proclaimed unto you remission of sins : 
and by him every one that believeth is justified from 
all things, from which ye could not be justified by the 
law of Moses."— Acts 13 :38, 39. 

"Every one that believeth is justified from all 
things" ; 



334 



THE BIBLE AGAINST 



Every one who is fit for baptism "believeth" ; 

Therefore, every one who is fit for baptism 4 'is justi- 
fied from all things." 
All who are 6 'justified from all things" have remis- 
sion of sins ; 

All who are fit for baptism are justified from all 
things ; 

Therefore, all who are fit for baptism have remission 
of sins. 

If we have remission of sins before baptism, we are 
not baptized in order to remission of sins ; 

We have remission of sins before baptism; 

Therefore, we are not baptized in order to remission 
of sins. 

Baumgarten : "On the side of the unrighteous, noth- 
ing can be required for this transformation, but that 
mental state which willingly allows such operations of 
the righteousness of Christ upon its own unrighteous 
condition to proceed. But now this frame of man's 
mind, which allows the Divine operation to go on, and 
receives it, is called, even from Abraham's time, 
faith." — Apostolic Hist. Vol. l,p. 417\ Neander : 
"By faith in Him they could obtain forgiveness of 
sins and justification." — Planting and Training of 
the Christian Church, p. 114; so Adam Clarke, Matt 
Henry , Harless, Being el, Meyer, Barnes, Doddridge. 

13. For I am not ashamed of the Gospel ; for it is 
the power of God unto salvation to every one that be- 
lieveth ; to the Jew first and also to the Greek."— 
Rom. 1 :16. 

All, to whom the gospel is the power of God unto sal- 
vation, are saved; 



fAll the authors cited, or referred to, are upon the passages in 
connection with which I have quoted from or referred to. 



BAPTISMAL EE GENERATION . 



335 



The gospel is the power of God unto salvation to 

every one that believeth ; 
Therefore, every one that believeth is saved. 
Only those who are saved by the gospel believe ; 
All who are fit for baptism believe ; 
Therefore, all who are fit for baptism are saved by the 

gospel, f 

Thoiuck : 6 'The condition of this divine efficacy on 
the part of man is niarc^'—pistis, faith — in I. Theodo- 
ret: 6 'ex zaor/j^ yap be Tztareuaav rec ttjv ocorqptav rpuyco- 
atv— "for out of this faith those who believe get the sal- 
vation. So Adam Clarke, Matt* Henry, the Bible 
Commentary, Godet, Olshausen, Chalmers, et. al. 

14. "He that believeth on him shall not be put to 
shame. — For you therefore who believe is the precious- 
ness."— 1 Pet. 2:6,7. 

Only those who will not be put to shame are Chris- 
tians ; 

All who believe will not be put to shame ; 

Therefore, all who believe are Christians. 

Only Christians believe ; 

All w T ho are to be baptized believe ; 

Therefore, all who are to be baptized are Christians. 

The "preciousness" is to all who believe; 

All who are to be baptized believe ; 

Therefore, the preciousness is to all who are fit for 

baptism. Here are peace and joy to the believer 

before he is baptized. 
The 4 'preciousness" is possessed by only the children 

of God ; 

It is possessed by all who are fit for baptism ; 

t Let the reader substitute baptism for faith, in any of the 
passages I quote, and see how absurd and ridiculous is Campbell- 
ism. 



336 



THE BIBLE AGAINST 



Therefore, all who are fit for baptism are the children 
of God. 

Bengel: "He shall experience that the preciousness 
of Christ abounds towards him (whilst) believing." — 
in I . So Matt. Henry, so Doddridge. 

15. "They rehearsed all things that God had done 
with them and how that he had opened a door of 
faith unto the Gentiles.' 7 — Acts 14 :27. 
Whatever door was opened to the Gentiles was the way 
of salvation ; 

The door opened was the "door of faith;" 
Therefore, the "door of faith" is the way of salva- 
tion. 

The way of salvation is the only way by which the 

penitent is saved ; 
That way is the door of faith : 

Therefore, the penitent enters salvation by only the 

door of faith. 
The door of faith is "faith only" — for the penitent; 
The Gentiles entered Christ by the door of faith ;t 
Therefore, the Gentiles entered Christ by faith only. 

To enter into salvation is to be saved; 
The penitent Gentiles entered into salvation by faith 

only ; 

Therefore, the penitent Gentiles were saved by faith 
only. 

Penitents of all ages are saved in the same way 

by which these penitent Gentiles were saved : 
These penitent Gentiles were saved by faith only ; 

f By reference to the following passages the reader will see 
that/ fo ( oaV^w, rendered door, — takes into the inside : Matt. 6 :6 ; 
25:10; 27:60; 28:2: Mark 11:4; Luke 11:7; John 10:1,2,7,8; 18 6; 
20:19; 1 Cor. 16:9: 2 Cor. 2:12: Col. 4:3 ; James 5 :9 : Rev.3 :8,20; 
4:1. 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 



337 



Therefore, penitents of all ages are saved by faith 
only. 

Adam Clarke: ' 'How the heathen had received the 
gospel which, through faith in Christ Jesus, was able 
to save their souls." — in I. Bengel: 6 'Paul calls it 
entering in." — in L So Meyer, et. al. 

16, "The righteousness of God through faith in 
Christ Jesus unto all them that believe." Eom. 3: 22. 

God's righteousness upon and unto the penitent is 
salvation ; 

His righteousness comes upon and unto the penitent 

through faith. 
Therefore, salvation is through faith ; 
All who have faith have God's righteousness ; 
Every tit candidate for baptism has faith ; 
Therefore, every fit candidate for baptism has God's 
righ t e o u sn es s — sal vati o n . 

So Meyer says, on Acts 16 : 30 : " The Apostle lays 
down faith as the condition of salvation, and nothing 
else." Tholuck : "It — salvation — is the effect of a 
believing, inward acceptance of Christ in all that he 
was for mankind." — in I. Bengel : "By faith in Jesus 
. . . Jews and Gentiles are both accused and justified 
in the same way." — in Z. 

Adam Clarke: "That method of saving sinners 
which is not of works, but by faith in Christ Jesus." 
— in I. /So /Scott, BloomfieJd, Chalmers, Van Hengel, 
The Bible Commentary, Barnes, Olshausen, Godet, 

17. "The righteousness which is of God bv faith ." 
—Phil. 3:9. 

All who have that which procures righteousness are 

saved ; 

Faith procures righteousness ; 



338 



THE BIBLE AGAINST 



Therefore all who have faith are saved. 

God's righteousness is "by faith ;" 
All who are fit for baptism have faith ; 
Therefore, all who are fit for baptism have God's right- 
eousness. 

All who have God's righteousness have remission of 
sins ; 

All who believe have God's righteousness; 
Therefore, all who believe have remission of sins. 
All fit candidates for baptism believe ; 
All who believe have remission of sins ; 
Therefore, all fit candidates for baptism have remis- 
sion of sins. 

Adam Clarke : "God's method of justifying sinners 
through faith in his Son. That justification which is 
received by faith through the atonement. " — in I. 
Scott: "When the sinner believes in Christ he is im- 
mediately justified by faith, and has peace with God." 
— So Matt. Henry, Bloomfield, The Bible Commenta- 
ry , Barnes, Doddridge, Harless, Olshausen, Meyer, 
etc. 

18. "That upon the Gentiles might come the blessing 
of Abraham in Christ Jesus ; that we might receive the' 
promise of the Spirit through faith" — Gal. 3:14. 

The promise of the Spirit is salvation; 
The promise of the Spirit is — given to us — "through 
faith;"— 

Therefore, salvation — is given to us — "through faith." 
All who have faith have complied with the condition of 
salvation ; 

Every fit candidate for baptism has faith ; 
Therefore, every fit candidate has complied with the 
condition of salvation. 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 



339 



No one who has complied with the condition of sal- 
vation is in an unsaved state ; 

Every one fit for baptism has complied with the condi- 
tion of salvation ; 

Therefore, no one who is fit for baptism is in an un- 
saved state. 

Bengel: "Not of works, for faith depends on the 
promise alone, "—in I. 

Adam Clarke: "And all this was through faith. 
Hence from the beginning God had purposed that 
salvation should be tlirough faith, and never expected 
that any man should be justified by the works of the 
law." — in I. So Matt. Henry, Scott, so Barnes, 
Doddridge, Bloomfield, The Bible Commentary, 01- 
shausen, etc. The reader will not overlook the con- 
text, in which, as Adam Clarke intimates, the apostle 
illustrates salvation, throughout all ages, by Abraham's 
being justified by faith only. See my argument in the 
first part of this chapter on Abraham's justification. 

19. "The Scripture hath shut up all things under 
sin that the promise of faith in Christ Jesus misht be 
given to them that believe."— Gal. 3 : 22. 

All who have faith have the promise : 
The promise is received by faith; 
Therefore, all who have faith receive the promise. 

The promise is salvation ; 
All who have faith have the promise; 
Therefore, all who have faith have salvation. 

All who have faith have salvation ; 
All who are fit for baptism have faith ; 
Therefore, all who are fit for baptism have salvation. 

Bengel: "So that there remains to us no refuge 
but faith." — in I. : so Adam Clarke, MacJcnight, Matt. 
Henry, Bloomfield, Barnes, Doddridge, &c. 

20. "He made no distinction between us and them, 



340 



THE BIBLE AGAINST 



cleansing their hearts by faith." — Acts 15 : 9. 

All who possess that by which this cleansing comes 
are saved ; 
This cleansing comes by faith ; 
Therefore, all who have faith are saved. 

Hackett : "In that by faith He purified their hearts, 
i. e., in connection with the reception of the gospel, 
had made them partakers of the holiness which ren- 
ders those who possess it acceptable in His sight." — 
in I. 

Bengel : 6 4 He who hath the Holy Spirit and faith, 
(a thing which is apprehended by the spiritual sense 
itself), hath liberty, and purity, and is no longer sub- 
ject to the law." — in I. ; so Whitby, Scott, Matt. Hen- 
ry, Neander, Meyer , Barnes, Olshausen, etc. 

21. For Christ is the end of the law unto right- 
eousness to every one that believeth." — Rom. 10: 4. 
The end of the law means the law satisfied. 

For the law to be satisfied means saved ; 
The law is satisfied for 6 6 every one that believeth ;" 
Therefore, < 'every one that believeth" is saved. 

The condition by which the law is satisfied, is the 
condition of salvation ; 
The law is satisfied by faith as that condition; 
Therefore faith is the condition of salvation. 

All who comply with the condition of salvation are 
saved ; 

Faith is the condition of salvation ; 
Therefore all who exercise faith are saved. 

All who exercise faith are saved ; 
All who are prepared for baptism exercise faith ; 
Therefore, all who are prepared for baptism are saved. 

Bengel: "Bestowing righteousness and life . . . . 
in the believer of the Jews and Gentiles." — 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 



341 



in I. Matt. Henry: "On our believing, our humble 
consent to the terms of the Gospel we .... are jus- 
tified through the redemption which is in Christ Je- 
sus." — in I.; so Adam Clarke, Bloomfteld, Whitby, 
Scott, Stuart, Chalmers, Barnes, The Bible Com- 
mentary, Godet, etc. 

22. "Through whom we have access by faith into 
this grace." — Rom. 5 :2. 

To get into God's grace, is to get into salvation ; 
We get into God's grace by faith ; 
Therefore, we get into salvation "by faith." 

If any one thing gets us into grace, we are got into 
grace by that one thing only ; 
Faith is the one thing which gets us into grace; 
Therefore, faith only gets us into grace. 
. Whatever gets us into grace gets us into salvation, 
only ; 

Faith gets us into grace ; 

Therefore, faith only gets us into salvation. 

Tholuck : "By believing in the gracious institution 
of salvation . . . there is secured for us such a child- 
like relationship toward God that it is a joyful thing 
to hold intercourse with him." — in I. Chrysostom : 

Kai yap dneOave dc 'qp.uc, xae xo.r/jXlassv 'f/uo.z 

iy/££?c o£ T7]V TtiGTtv scarp efTta/iev f/opop — And he died 
through us and reconciled us ... . now we brins; 
faith only. So Adam Clarke, Matt. Henry, Chal- 
mers, The Bible Commentary, Barnes, Olshausen, 
Godet, Machnight, etc. 

23. "Being therefore justified by faith." — Rom. 
5: 1. 

That which justifies us saves us ; 
Faith justifies us ; 
Therefore, faith saves us. 



342 



THE BIBLE AGAINST 



That which justifies us without anything else, justi- 
fies us alone ; 
Faith justifies us without anything else ; 
Therefore, faith alone justifies us. 

All who have faith are justified ; 
Every fit candidate for baptism has faith ; 
Therefore, every fit candidate for baptism is justified. 

Adam Clarke : "The Apostle takes for granted that 
he has proved that justification is by faith, and that 
the Gentiles have an equal title with the Jew T s to sal- 
vation by faith We are justified — have all 

our sins pardoned by faith, as the instrumental cause ; 
for, being sinners we have no works of righteousness 
that we can plead." — in I. Stuart: "By belief in- 
stead of perfect obedience."— in I. jSo Matt. Henry, 
etc. This Scripture is the conclusion of the plain ar- 
gument from Abraham's justification by faith "apart 
from works." And as Bloomfield comments : " The 
uniform doctrine of Scripture is that the believer's 
faith is counted to him for righteousness." How 
much does this look like the doctrine : 

" Dive like a wild fowl for salvation 
And fish to catch regeneration ?•' 

24. "For ye are all sons of God through faith in 
Christ Jesus."— Gal. 3: 26. 

That which makes us "sons of God" saves us ; 
"Through faith in Christ Jesus" we "are sons of God ;" 
Therefore, faith in Christ Jesus save us. 

That which makes "sons of God," saves alone ; 
Faith makes us "sons of God;" 
Therefore, faith alone saves us. 

If faith alone really saves us, baptism, in no way 
really saves us ; 
Faith alone really saves us ; 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 



343 



Therefore, baptism, in no way, really saves us. 

If we are 6 'sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus," 

we are not sons of God through baptism ; 

We are ' 'sods of God through faith in Christ Jesus;" 

Therefore, we are not "sons of God through" baptism. 

Adam Clarke : "For ye who have believed the gos- 
pel are all children of God by faith in Christ Jesus." — 
in I. Matt. Henry : "They come to obtain . . . this 
privilege ... by faith in Christ Jesus, having accepted 
Him as their Lord and Savior, and relying on Him 
alone for justification and salvation, they are hereupon 
admitted into this happy relation to God." So MacJc- 
night, Doddridge, et. al. 

Objection. 

Campbellites, like they do nearly everything in the 
plan of salvation, get this matter wrong or back- 
wards, and reply: "But, the next verse — 'For as 
many of you as were baptized into Christ did put on 
Christ' — tells us that we become children of God by 
baptism : thus it explains how we become children of 
God by faith." To this I answer: it does no such 
thing. Adam Clarke : "To put on, or to be clothed 
with one, is to assume the person and character of that 
one; and they who do so are bound to act his part, 
and to sustain the character which they have assumed. 
The prof ession of Christianity is an assumption of the 
character of Christ." — in I. Bengel: "Christ is to 
you the toga virilism' '| — in I. Campbellites have peo- 
ple assuming the character of Christ to become the 
sons of God ; while Paul, here, has them assuming that 

t Among the Romans, when a youth arrived at manhood, he as- 
sumed the dress of a full grown man, which was called the toga 
virilis. — James Bryce, LL. J0., in BenqeVs Com. 



344 



THE BIBLE AGAINST 



character because their life and relation, as sons, 
demand that character. Paul appeals to their baptismal 
profession, that they had become sons, as the reason for 
their Christian life ; Campbellites would appeal to their 
baptism in order to, thereby, be made sons, Paul has 
them putting on Christ because He is theirs ; Campbell- 
ites have them putting on Christ in order that He may, 
thereby, become theirs. Paul would have us become 
good to put on the character of the good ; Campbell- 
ites would have us to put on the character of the 
good in order to, thereby, become good. Paul's 
doctrine forbids any bad man to assume to be good 
until he is good; under the delusion, that assuming to 
be good makes us good, Campbellites would encourage 
the bad man to assume to be good. Campbellites 
would have a man enter a clothing store, clothe himself 
with a new suit in order to possess it ; Paul would 
have him enter that store, first buy the suit, then put 
it on because it is his. The Campbellite, doctrine 
would send the man into prison; Paul's would send 
him about his business, clothed, as an honest man, 
with a new suit. Those who follow Paul's doctrine 
will first, by faith, possess Christ, then, clothed with 
Him, walk in Him, from this world to glory ; those 
who follow the Campbellite advice, putting on Christ 
before He, by faith, is theirs, under the delusion that 
they have really put Him on, will walk from this 
world off into the gulf of everlasting shame. See that 
part of this chapter on baptism a profession. 

u Lord, let not all my hopes be vain, 
Create my heart entirely new; 
Why hypocrites could ne'er attain. 
Which false apostles never knew." 

25. The grammatical construction of "believeth in 

Him," "believeth on Him," "believed in His name," 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION . 



345 



"believeth on the Son," "believeth on me," "believ- 
eth unto righteousness." — See John 3 :15, 16, 18, 19 ; 
6:29, 35, 40, 47; 7 : 38 ; 9 :36 ;11 :25, 26, 45, 48; Acts 
10:43; Rom. 10 :10, etc. In all these passages and 
many others, "in," "on," "unto" arc renderings of 
the preposition e/c — e/s. The following lexicons thus 
define eis: "In composition eis retains its chief sig- 
nification, into." — Liddell and Scott's. Robinson's : 
"Eis a preposition governing only the accusative, with 
the primary idea of motion into any place or thing, 
and then also of motion or direction to, towards, 
upon any place or object." By counting, I find eis 
1650 times in the New Testament. It is nearly always 
used in the sense of into. With all its loose rendering 
of prepositions our Common Version renders it into 
580 times. Says Alexander Campbell: "Not having 
time to count over the whole book, I found in the Gos- 
pels that eis occurs 795 times. Of these it is trans- 
lated into 372 times, and by to, for into, 100 times, for 
to the house, to the temple, to Jerusalem, to Bethany, 
to Nazareth ; and of 273 times, where it is rendered 
unto, it might have been rendered into very often, 
thus making in all 500 out of 795 occurrences." — 
Campbell on Baptism , p. 158. Therefore, according 
to Alexander Campbell's own statement, eis generally 
means into; so that, unless the context or the sense 
forbid, its usage requires into in all its occurrences. 
In some cases the sense or the context forbids. But 
these are rare exceptions. Whatever may be the num- 
ber of exceptions, the sense and the context in none of 
the passages, concerning believing in Christ, in His 
name, etc., forbid rendering it into. I would, there- 
fore, render : "He that believeth into me ;" "Whoso- 
ever believeth into me;" "man believeth into right- 



346 



THE BIBLE AGAINST 



eousness." Let the reader turn to all the Scriptures, 
referred to, at the head of this argument and read into 
where "in," "on'" and "unto" occur, and see how 
much clearer they read. 

Objection. 

It may be objected, that if we render eis into, ac- 
cording to Eom. 10:10, "confession into salvation" 
makes confession as necessary to remission of sins as 
is faith. In answer to this, Matthew says : " Every 
one therefore who shall confess in me before men him 
will I confess." Matt. 10 :32. The marginal render- 
ing of ifjtoc — "in me," in the Revised Version is 
correct. See Matt. 10 : 32 under another argument. 
Thus we are in Christ before confessing Him. This 
confession, therefore, cannot be a literal confessing 
into Christ. It is figurative. We believe literally into 
Christ; we confess figuratively into Him. 

I will resume my argument, letting a Campbellite, 
who is beginning to get his eyes open, speak. Presi- 
dent Clark Braden, one of the ablest Campbellite wri- 
ters and debaters in America, thus speaks to his own 
people, in The Apostolic Church — a Campbellite pa- 
per : — "They hunt up a few places where eis cannot 
literally mean into, but is better rendered by unto, 
concerning, etc. They then attempt to foist these 
rare meanings where eis is used after baptizo. I have 
retorted to this specious sophistry, that the connection 
did not require any such departure from the root idea 
of motion from without a place, state, relation or con- 
dition, to within such a place, state, relation or condi- 
tion; that the context forbids any such departure, and 
requires that we adhere to the original idea, and ren- 
der eis by into." After replying to Baptists and others 
he says : "But herein is a marvelous thing." I have 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 



347 



lately called attention to the fact that eis occurs after 
pisteuo [believe] thirty-four times, and after baptizo 
[immerse] ten times; that if the Bible declares we 
are immersed into Christ, it declares in nearly four 
times as many passages that we believe into Christ. "t 
To this a leading Campbellite, to save Campbellism, 
replies. Noticing this reply, President Braden says : 
"But to my amazement, my good brother Butler de- 
murs as dogmatically to this palpable teaching of the 
Bible as ever a sectarian demurred to the unequivocal 
declaration, that men are baptized into Christ ! ! . . . 
Why does not eis after pisteuo have the same force 
and meaning that it does after baptizo ? Why should 
it not be translated into after pisteuo? What objec- 
tion can you urge against translating eis by into that 
the sectarian cannot with equal force turn against your 
translating eis by into after baptizo? Light is wanted 
here. More light is needed here, Bro. Butler. Will 
you give it to us?" If I may answer the question, I 
will say, "Bro. Butler" and the whole army of Camp- 
bellites will never give that "light." Debating with 
rantists, Campbellites readily see that eis means into; 
debating with Baptists, they cannot see that eis 
means into. President Braden proceeds to lecture 
"Bro. Butler" : "Do you not feel — was going to say 
ashamed — but I will say, confused at being caught in 
parading as quibbles against translating eis by into 
after pisteuo [believe] the identical passages that sec- 
tarians have paraded against translating eis by into, 
after baptizo. " Section V, of this chapter. 

t Under the argument on the design and symbolism of bap- 
tism I will see that we are baptized ?// to Christ. Baptists can 
well let eis speak without choking it before it says all it has to 
say. 



348 



THE BIBLE AGAINST 



4 'What is the difference except that you sin against 
greater light and knowledge? If their position in ref- 
erence to baptizo is false, can yours in reference to 
pisteuo be true? Light, Bro. Butler, light! Do you 
not resort to the sectarian dodge of concocting a theo- 
ry and then foisting your theory into the Bible, in 
violation of its plain teaching? The only difference I 
can see is, you get up a theory that makes baptism 
alone change our state, relation, or condition, while the 
sectarian makes faith alone accomplish the same end ; 
and both are equally false. Is not their course precisely 
identical with yours ! Is not their reasoning on faith 
alone as good as yours on baptism alone? Has it not 
four times as many passages to sustain it? Is not 
your pettifogging on baptism alone as objectionable as 
their pettifogging on faith alone? . . . In short, Bro. 
Butler, drop your Campbellite sectarianism about bap- 
tism alone as well as orthodox sectarianism about faith 
alone, and accept the Bible teaching : We believe into 
Christ, repent into Christ, confess into Christ, aud are 
baptized into Christ."! — Quoted in The Baptist. 

Commenting on this, Rev. J. R. Graves, LL. D., 
well says : "If the primary meaning of eis is into, as 
all scholars admit, then it is true that the penitent sin- 
ner believes into Christ — i. e., that is, by faith and 
faith alone the alien becomes united to Christ — enters 
Christ savingly." — The Baptist. That the penitent 
believes into Jesus Christ, is therefore, from this use of 
eis, certain, 

26. The grammatical construction and meaning of 

tSee the question of debate between Baptists and Campbellites 
stated in this chapter in answer to objections between arguments 
"5" and u 6' on the New Testament testimony. As regards bap- 
tism, see argument on symbolism, design of baptism, in which 
appears President Braden^ error, in thrusting at u faith alone, ' 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 



349 



ix ti'cgtsok — ek pisteos — etc. The following Lexicons 
thus define ek, Liddell and Scotts' : " Out of faith, 
from faith — of place, of origin, of occasion, in- 
ducement, means ; it maybe translated arising from, 
through. In prose it expresses any result, on what 
ground, etc." Bagsters' : "Of, from, out, denoting 
source, origin, denoting cause, means or instrument, 
by, through, denoting the author or efficient cause." 
Greenfield's: "From, out of, denoting origin or 
source ; for, on account of, because of, denoting cause ; 
denoting means or instrument, by, through, denoting 
the author or efficient cause, etc." Bobinsons' : "Af- 
ter verbs implying motion of any kind, out of or 
from any place or object . . Of the origin, source, 
cause, that from which anything proceeds or is de- 
rived. Here ek marks the nearer, immediate direct 
source or cause. . . This is strictly the primary sense 
of the genitive case itself. . . . Of the efficient cause 
or agent, that from which any action or thing directly 
proceeds, is produced, effected, from, by. . . Of the 
motive or inciting cause, especially an emotion of the 
mind ; ... of the instrument or means, from, by 
which or with which." I have quoted the definitions 
these Lexicons give, which relate to the subject before 
us. That ek denotes the source, cause, and instrument 
of anything, they agree. 

Winer: 6 'Ek denotes issuing from within. Figura- 
tively, this preposition denotes every source and cause 
out of which something issues . . . . ek is especially 
employed to express the mental state, the disposition 
out of which something springs." — N. T. Gram., pp. 
367, 368. Ex is used about 925 times in the New 
Testament. In all these occurrences it clings to the 
above definitions. As a few examples: "Out of 



350 



THE BIBLE AGAINST 



Egypt;" [I italicise the translations of eTc] ; "out of 
thine eye ;" 6 'the tree is known by its fruits ;" 6 'thou 
mightest be profited by me;" "conceived by one;" 
"in perils by my countrymen ;" "through weakness ;" 
"by the power of God;" "by a, bondmaid:" "by a 
free woman."— Matt. 2: 15; 7: 5; 12: 33; 15: 5; 
Kom. 9 : 10 ; 2 Cor. 11 : 26 ; 13 : 4 ; Gal. 4 : 22, 23. 
Used in the same way — in the genitive — with ttW- 
77c — pistis, faith, we have ek, in the New Testament, 
20 times. Thus, "revealed from [I italicise the words 
which render elc] faith :" "the just shall live by faith ;" 
"justifier of him that believeth in Jesus" — literally of 
or by faith — ix ttlgtscoz — "it is of faith ;" "which is 
of the faith of Abraham ;" "righteousness which is of 
faith;" "not by faith;" "righteousness which is of 
faith;" "that we maybe justified by faith;" "they 
which are of faith;" "justify the heathen through 
faith :" "they which be of faith;" "the just shall live 
by faith;" "the promise by faith of Jesus Christ;" 
"we might be justified by faith ;" "hope of righteous- 
ness by faith ;" "not by faith only ;" "the just shall 
lively faith." Eom. 1 : 17 ; 3: 26, 30; 4: 16; 9: 
30, 32; 10: 6; Gal. 2: 16 ; 3 : 7, 8, 9, 11, 22, 24; 
5:5; James 2: 24; Heb. 10: 38. By comparing 
these references the reader may make himself a Lex- 
icon by which he can see that justified "by," "of," 
"through" faith, means that faith brings the penitent 
into Christ — saves him. 

27. Grammatical construction and meaning of dca 
n'tGTsaxz, dca rfc ttcgtscoz — diet pisteos, diet tees pisteos — 
through faith, through the faith. The following Lex- 
icons thus define dia: Liddell and Scott's : "Eadical 
signification, right through, Causal, — coming through, 
and out of, arising from . . , the agent or instru- 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 



351 



ment, through, or by means of, or by." Greenfield's: 
"Dia . . . through, by or from, as referring to the 
efficient or first cause ; through, by means of, with, re- 
ferring to the means or instrument." Bagster's: 
"Dia . . . through, of immediate agency, causation, 
instrumentality, by means of, or by ; of means or 
manner, through, by, with." Robinson's: "Dia . . 
of the immediate cause, the instrument or means ; that 
which intervenes between the act of the will and the 
effect, and through which the effect is produced ; 

through, by, by means of Of the condition, 

circumstances, state of mind, through, by, in which 
anything is done." As the preposition, as used for 
the subject before us does not relate to time, place, 
etc., I have quoted no definitions under such heads. 
Winer, on dia : ' 'Its primary meaning is through . , 
. . From this local through, in Greek, as in all lan- 
guages, the transition is easy to the instrument as 
that through which the effect as it were passes, that 
which intervenes between the volition and the deed. 
To the idea of instrumentality, dia can also be refer- 
red when used of that mind in which one does some- 
thing." IT. T. Gram., 378-379. 

On p. 423, Winer says : "Dia with the genitive 
usually denotes a mental state viewed as something 
mediate, a means ; in Heb. 12:1 di onojutour^ may be 
rendered with (through) patience, assidue, (similarly,) 
Rom. 8:25, etc." Thus the lexicons and the gram- 
mars agree in making dia the immediate agency or 
means, especially, of a state of mind by which any- 
thing is effected. Thus dia pisten as means through 
the instrumentality of faith, as the condition of the 
mind. In the New Testament dia occurs about 584 
times. When not used locally or causally it always or 



352 THE BIBLE AGAINST 

nearly always, at least — expresses or implies instru- 
mentality. It occurs in the following quotations : "By 
the prophet \ J> "by the father ;" 4 'shall live by me;" 
"by me if any man enter [I italicise the rendering of 
dia~] ; "through the Holy Ghost ;" "by the mouth of 
David "by wicked hands ;" "the faith which is by 
him ;" "miracle hath been done by them;" "by the 
name of the Holy Child Jesus ;" "by the hands of the 
Apostles;" "by the offense of one;" "by the right- 
eousness of one;" "by one man's disobedience;" "by 
the obedience of one;" "through righteousness ;" "by 
Jesus Christ our Lord ; " "by the glory of the Father ; ' ' 
"bv the commandment, "-Matt. 1 :22; 2 :5, 15,23 ; 4 : 
14 ] 8:17: 12:17; 21:4; 24 :15 ; 27 :9 ;Luke 1:70 ;Acts 
1-2, 16; 2:28; 3:16; 4:16; 5 :12 ;Eom. 5 :18, 19, 21; 
6:4; 6 :8. By referring to these passages, the reader 
will get an idea of what "by faith" means. With the 
the genitive of faith dia is used, in the New Testa- 
ment, at least, 12 times, to tell us how the penitent is 
saved. "By faith of Jesus Christ;" [I italicise its 
translation] "through faith in his blood ;" "justify the 
uncircumcision through faith: 9 ' "therefore it is of 
faith:" "the promise of the Spirit through faith;" 
"justified by the faith of Jesus Christ ;" "children of 
God by faith ;" "saved through faith;" "Christ may 
dwell in your hearts by faith;" "righteousness . . . . 
which is through faith;" "ye were also risen f through 



fCrucified with him, quickened with him, risen with him, 
circumcised with the circumcision made without hands — See 
Rom. 6 6, Gal, 2 :20; ("have been crucified"— Rev. Yer.) Col. 3:1; 
2. 16, as well as the symbolism of baptism show that "risen," here, 
"buried are both signified by our baptism." — Matt. Henry. The 
meaning; In Christ, as our representative we were crucified, 
buried and arose ; and in baptism we symbolically are buried 
and arise. 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 



353 



faith ;" 4 'salvation through faith which is in Christ 
Jesus. "---Rom. 3:22, 25,30; 4:16; Gal. 3:14; 2:16; 
3:26 ; Eph. 2:8,17; Philip. 3:9; 2 Tim. 3:15. In ad- 
dition to this, the same idea is implied by its use as a 
causal accusative, in Heb. 3:19; 4:6; for unbelief 
keeping them out implies that faith would have let 
them in. As the lexicons and the grammars testified, 
both ek and diet express that which instrumentally 
grows out of the mental state. Faith is the mental 
state by which we receive salvation. Thus, with the 
two accusatives which are used with the words for un- 
belief, we have thirty-four passages, expressly stating 
that faith is the instrument of justification for every 
true penitent. How little does this look like — in the 
language of Alexander Campbell — that "immersion 
alone was that act of turning to God." — Mill. Harb. 9 
Extra number I, p. 35, quoted on p. 211 of Text 
Book on Camp. 

28. Paul was especially sent to save sinners ; yet he 
says: "For Christ sent me not to baptize but to preach 
the Gospel."— 1 Cor. 1:17. See Winer's JST. T. 
Gram., p. 497 . In this statement Paul does not in- 
timate that, as an act of obedience, as professing 
Christ, etc., baptism is not important. But he does 
intimate that baptism has nothing to do in procuring 
remission — pardon — salvation. Heinrici : "Baptizing 
is not the object of Paul's commission from Christ, 
but preaching the Gospel." — Quoted, Acts 9:15,20; 
22:15; 26:16-18. As Henrichi and Winer say, the 
statement does not mean to exclude baptism ; but it is 
for oratorical effect, to show the greater importance 
of preaching, as it alone leads to Christ. It is in like 
meaning to the same Greek which expresses the little 
importance of the Apostles, compared with God 



354 



THE BIBLE AGAINST 



— "rejectethnot man but God" — ouk alia. — lThes.4 :8 
Paul's especial mission was to do whatever was es- 
sential to save men ; 

Paul did not regard baptism an essential part of his 
work ; 

Therefore, baptism was not regarded by Paul as es- 
sential to save men. 

How little does this look like the Campbellite doc- 
trine of — in Alexander Campbell's words — ' 'the Gos- 
pel in the water ! ' ' — Christian Baptist, p. 417. 

29. Cries the jailer : 6 ' What must I do to be 
saved?" Answers the Apostle : "Believe on the Lord 
Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved." — Acts 16: 31. 
Here was a man who was truly penitent, — ready to 
find Christ. How? he asks. "Believe on the Lord 
Jesus Christ,*' answers the Apostle. What Camp- 
bellite could have left baptism out of the answer? 
What Campbellite will answer the question as did the 
Apostle? Instead of such an answer Mr. Campbell 
cries: "Who will not concur with me in saying that 
Christian immersion is the gospel in the water." — 
Christian Baptist, p. 417 . Campbellites infer, from 
his speaking the word of the Lord to him, in v. 32, 
that he thereby preached "the gospel in the water." 
If so, when he recorded the answer, "believe on the 
Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved," he omitted 
to give the essential part of the answer. The Word of 
the Lord, which he afterward spoke, was the duty of 
professing, in baptism, their already found salvation. 
See Acts 10 :47,48. This they did immediately. Baum- 
garten : "Paul makes . . . salvation dependent on 
the faith of the jailer.'' — Apostolic History, vol. 2, p. 
130Matt. Henry : "If he will but believe in Christ." 
/So Barnes, Hackett, Doddridge, et. al. 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 355 

30. We have several cases, recorded, in the New 
Testament, of faith only saving penitents — of persons 
saved before they were baptized. (1) Jesus 6 'said 
unto the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in 
peace."— Luke 7 :39-50. Adam Clarke : "Thy faith 
hath been the instrument of receiving the salvation 
which is promised to those who repent." — in I. Matt. 
Henry: "She was justified by her faith." — in I. 
Stier : "Faith in this case, is pointed out as the inter- 
nal principle on account of which God justifies. — " 
Words of Jesus, vol. 3, p. 472. (2) "This man 
went down to his house justified rather than the other." 
— Luke 18 :14. Stier : "Justified at first, he is therein 
.... sanctified. Goes on his way as a new man, no 
more a sinner !" — Words of Jesus, vol. 4, p. 313. 
Adam Clarke: "Justified. His sins blotted out and 
himself accepted." — in I. Matt. Henry : " But our 
Lord, to whom all hearts are open, and no secret hid, 
who is perfectly acquainted with all proceedings in 
the court of heaven assures us that this penitent, 
broken-hearted publican went to his house justified, 
rather than the other . . . The proud Pharisee goes 
away, . . . not justified . . . not pardoned." — in I. 
Christian Baptism was then in existence. Without 
it his heart leaps with the joy of forgiveness. How, 
then, "is the gospel in the water?" So Olshausen, 
Barnes, et. al. (3). To the unbaptized, penitent 
thief, on the cross, Jesus said: "To-day thou shalt 
be with me in Paradise." — Luke 23:43. Stier: "All 
crucified with Him, but who call upon Him in faith, 
He takes with Him." — Words of Jesus, vol. 7, p. 
452. Matt. Henry: "He lets all penitent believers 
know that when they die they shall go to be with 
Him." — in I. 



356 



THE BIBLE AGAINST 



"The dying thief rejoiced to see, 

That fountain in his day; 
And there have I though vile as he, 

Washed all my sins away. 
E'er since, by faith, I saw the stream, 

Thy flowing wounds supply, 
Redeeming love has been my theme, 

And shall be till I die," etc. 

Here, then, are three cases, before Christ's ascen- 
sion, and, in the case of the house full, at the home 
of Cornelius, — Acts 10: 33-48 — a large number after 
— all of whom were so certainly saved without bap- 
tism, that not even a Campbellite can deny that bap- 
tism did not save them. As God has but one plan of 
salvation these cases set the matter, with all who have 
eyes to see, forever at rest. All that a Campbellite 
can do is to stand and cry 4 'Pentecost." That cry I 
have shown vain, in chapter 10 of this book, wherein 
is proved, as clear as that two and two make four, that 
the gospel was preached before Pentecost ; that they 
had, before Pentecost, the same Savior, the same gos- 
pel, the same salvation, the same Church which we 
have to-day. Then, here comes the large number 
gathered into the house of Cornelius, after Pentecost, 
saved before baptism ; just as they were saved before 
Pentecost. The saved after Pentecost standing in the 
same salvation, saved in the same way as those before 
Pentecost stood and were saved. 

31. "By the works of law shall no flesh be justified 
in his sight." — Bom. 3 : 20. "A man is justified by 
faith apart from the works of the law." — Rom. 3 : 28. 
"God reckoneth righteousness apart from works." — 
Rom. 4 :6. "If it is by grace it is no more of works : 
otherwise grace is no more grace." — Rom. 11: 6. 
"For by grace have ye been saved, through faith ; and 
that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God, not of 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 



357 



works, that no man should glory." — Eph. 2 :9. 

To sweep away the 4 'gospel in the water" it is only 
necessary to show that baptism is a work. (1) The 
presumption, at once, puts it down as a work. Let 
any one tell, if he can, why the ceremonies of the Old 
Testament are ' ' works" while the ceremonies of the 
New are not works. If the immersions, under the 
Old Testament, were works, no less must be the im- 
mersion under the New. Should it be said that im- 
mersion, under the New, is a grace — ordained through 
the favor of God, the answer is : so the ceremonies of 
the Old were grace in the same sense. In its place 
and for its purposes the Old Testament was a favor or 
grace, Presumption, then, is so strong in favor of 
New Testament ceremonies being works, that upon 
him who denies that they are works rests the burden 
of proof. 

(2) The meaning of the word " works" certainly 
includes New Testament ceremonies. Webster defines 
work : "To exert one's self for a purpose ; to put forth 
effort for the attainment of an object; to labor; to 
operate ; to be engaged in the performance of a task, 
a duty, and the like . . . To influence by acting ; to 
prevail upon . . . Theologically: moral duties, orf 
external performances, as a ground of pardon, justifi- 
cation." — Webster's Unabridged Die. (My italics.) 
Surely, that this is just what Campbellites do to be 
saved, even they cannot deny. But may not the He- 
brew and the Greek differ from Webster ? Let us 
see. (a) rD&6lD — melahah, means, "ministry, ser- 

tOnly externals are works, as Webster, here, rightly says. As 
asking on the part of a beggar, is not working for bread, so the 
prayer or exercise of faith ior salvation is not working for salva- 
tion. See foot note to argument "8" under this Section. 



358 



THE BIBLE AGAINST 



vice, work, labor, business . . . work as wrought, 
thing done or made." — Ges.' Lex. Heb. (b) nW* 
maaseh means: " Work, labor, business, the labour 
of temple service, mode of acting, conduct, a work 
a deed, something done," etc., — Ges. Lex. Heb. (c) 
byz—poal — work, labour, business, ... a work, a deed, 
act." — Ges. Lex. Heb.. These three are the words 
generally used, in the Old Testament, for works. There 
are three or four others; but they are used but few 
times. They do not differ, materially, from these 
three. Maasseh is rendered work, in the following 
quotations : "I have seen all the works that are done ; ' ' 
a 6 'time . . . for every work ;" "in his own works ;" 
who hath not seen the evil work ;" "sentence against 
an evil work ;" "God shall bring every work into judg- 
ment ;" "the work of righteousness;" "their works 
are vanity;" "I know their works." — Eccl. 3 : 17,22 ; 
4:3; 8:11; 12:14; Isa. 37:19: 41:29: 66:18. 

Pool is rendered work, in the following quotations : 
"Accept the work of his hands;" "the Lord recom- 
pense thy work;" "He showeth them their work;" 
"the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands :" 
"whether his work be pure;" "recompense her ac- 
cording to her work." — Deut. 33: 11 ; Job 36 : 9 ; Psa. 
9: 16; Jer. 50: 29. Melakah is almost exclusively 
used for material work. Thus we see that the Hebrew 
words, for work, include external anything which we 
do. Baptism is an act, a thing we do. In the New 
Testament we are concerned with but one word — epyop 
— ergon. It occurs 176 times in the New Testament. 
It is rendered "work," "works," "deed," "deeds." 
The following Lexicons thus define it : Liddell and 
Scott's: "A deed work, work of duty .... a deed, 
action," etc. Greenfield's: "Anything done or to be 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 



359 



done .... deed, word, action .... duty enjoin- 
ed." Bagster's: " Anything done, or to be done; a 
deed, work, action .... duty enjoined." Robin- 
son's: " A work, deed, action, something done . . . . 
of the works of men in reference to right or wrong, as 
judged by the moral law, the precept of the gospel 
... a good deed, good works .... of works of 
law, i. e., required by or conformible to the Mosaic 
law; so of a course required by this law/' Thus, 
Hebrew, Greek and English lexicography and usage, 
leave no doubt that as baptism is an act, action, deed, 
duty, it is a work. 

By the grammatical construction of the passages 
which declare that works cannot save us, that baptism 
is one of the works, is, if possible, made more certain. 
"The article in Greek, as a weakened demonstrative, 
directs special attention to its substantive, making it 
either a particular object, distinguished from others of 
its class, or, as a whole class distinguished from other 
classes." — HadJei/s Greek Gram,, p. 216. Winer: 
"The article was originally a demonstrative pronoun 

when employed as strictly an article before a 

noun it marks the object as one definitely conceived, 
whether in consequence of its nature, or the context, 
or some circle of ideas assumed or known." Of 
course, the converse is true — i. e., its omission, except 
where the noun is clearly understood to be emphatic, 
implies that the noun is not definite. — Hartley's Greek 
Gram., p. 217; Winer's JST. T. Gram., p. 119. Wi- 
ner's words are : "This omission, however, only takes 
place when it produces no ambiguity, and leaves no 
doubt in the mind of the reader whether the object is 
to be understood as definite." Thus ec epycov voytou — 
ex ergon nomou — does not read as translated, "the 



360 THE BIBLE AGAINST 

works of the law," but it reads, works of law. That 
is, no works of any kind of law. The Revised Ver- 
sion, in its marginal rendering, of Eom. 2 : 20 ; Gal. 
2: 16, rightly renders the phrase, "works of law." 
So does the Bible Union Version render it — "works of 
law." Tholuek, on the phrase : "The whole amount 
of the duties obligatory upon the Jews, whether they 
relate to external rites or moral actions properly so 
called." — On Rom. 3: 20; so Bengel. That the 
Apostle had especial allusion to Old Testament laws 
and works is true enough. But that was because he 
was speaking to Jews. They would be the last ones 
to suppose that while a law and a work could not save, 
under the Old, another law and another work, on the 
same principle, from the same "flesh," could save un- 
der the New ! Too great was their confidence in the 
old laws, and their works, to drop them for refuge in 
another law and another work scheme. To let go the 
Old was to cling to Christ only. But Paul by saying, 
"works of law," used a phrase, which by the meaning 
of "works" and "law" — "law of baptism" — cannot 
exclude baptism and the supper. Had the Apostle 
not meant to cut off baptism — and the supper, too — 
as saving, how naturally he would have said: "By 
the works of the Old Testament law shall no flesh be 
saved ; but by the works of the New Testament law is 
salvation." This Paul did not say ; this Campbellites 
do say. All law, being but a sinking ship for the sin- 
ner, the Campbellite calls him from the sinking ship of 
the Old, to be drowned in the sinking ship of the New. 
Bishop Middleton : "It is his purpose to show, that 
no man whatever can be justified by the works either 
of the Jewish law, or of any other; naaa aap^, (all 
flesh), like 6 xoafioQ (the world), in the preceding 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 



361 



verse, cannot but be understood universally." So 
Bloomfield, Stuart, The Bible Commentary, Barnes, 
et. aL See Gal. 3: 21. We have seen that baptism 
is a work. The matter stands thus : 

"Bv works of law shall no flesh be justified in His 
" sight;" 

Baptism is — undeniably — a work of law ; 
Therefore, by baptism "shall no flesh be" — literally — 
"justified in His sight." 
(3.) An unconverted man can do nothing pleasing 
to God. The reader will please, as the basis of this 
argument, refer to Chapter 11, Chapter 17, Section 2 ; 
also, Chapter 19 of this book. Campbellites, as we 
have seen, in the previous Chapter, baptize children of 
the devil to make of them children of God ; in water 
is their pardon, regeneration, etc. But man being an 
enemy of God, not able to be "subject to the law of 
God,"— see Bom. 8: 5-8; 1 Cor. 2: 14— the things 
of the Spirit being "foolishness unto him," he cer- 
tainly can be saved no more by any work of the New 
Testament than he could have been saved by any work 
of the Old. 

An enemy to God can do no act acceptable to Him ; 
An unregenerate man is an enemy to God ; 
Therefore, an unregenerate man can do no act accepta- 
ble to God. 

By no work of his own doing can an enemy— an un- 
pardoned sinner — be acceptable to God ; 

Campbellite baptism is the baptism or work of an en- 
emy or unpardoned sinner ; 

Therefore, Campbellite baptism cannot be acceptable 
to God. 

No act which "is not subject to the law of God" 
can be acceptable to God; 



362 



THE BIBLE AGAINST 



No unregenerate man or sinner can be subject to the 
law of God ; 

Therefore, the baptism of an unregenerate man or sin- 
ner is not subject to the law of God. 
"For that which, in the domain of morals or in the 
testimony of the willing personality, is not from the 
ground of the heart and with the whole soul is not 
good." — Heirless' Christian Ethics, p. 81. (My 
italics.) 

Any act, not done, in subjection to the law of God, is 
sin ; 

The baptism of an unregenerate man or sinner is not 

"subject to the law of God" ; 
Therefore, Campbellite baptism — the baptism of an 

unregenerate man or sinner — is sin. 
Godet, on Rom. 3:20: "Works wrought in this 
state, notwithstanding their external conformity to the 
letter of the law, are not therefore its real fulfill- 
ment." 

If baptism can save a child of Satan, it should save 

the father — Satan ; 
According to Campbellites baptism does save children 

of Satan ; 

[The reader will, here, please turn to the previous 
chapter of this book, especially to point "18," w T here 
he will see that Campbellite faith is rightly represented 
here.] 

Therefore, baptism should save Satan himself! 
Saved by "w T orks" should, therefore, logically, save 
Satan ! ! ! 

Objection. 

"Baptism is an act of faith." (a.) I reply : If it 
is an act of faith, it is an act, not of a Campbellite 
subject, but of a "new creature." Says John : "Who- 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 



363 



soever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is" — not will 
be, as the result of belief, which Campbellites have it 
— "begotten of God."— 1 John 5:1. (b) Though an 
act of faith, it is nevertheless a work. Every true 
Christian act is an act of faith; yet the Christian is 
not saved by works but by faith. "By faith into this 
grace wherein we stand :" "the righteous shall live by 
faith."— Rom. 5:2; 1:17. 

As (c) argument against works saving I ask any 
Campbellite to tell the world how it is, that works ivill 
not save the Christian, and yet can save the lost sin- 
ner? Any one but a Campbellite would think the 
Christian the less difficult to save : that, therefore, 
"works," if saving either the Christian or the lost 
sinner, would save the Christian! 

Before leaving this place, to clear the subject still 
clearer: — A sinner is saved by grace only, by works 
only, or by a mixture of the two : if by grace only, 
not, in the least, by works ; if by works only, not, in 
the least, by grace ; if by grace and works, by neither 
grace alone nor works alone. But the Scriptures de- 
clare : "By grace have ye been saved through faith; 
and that not of yourselves : it is the gift of God : not 
of works, that no man should glory." — Eph. 2 :8. 

32. That baptism does not save, is evident from the 
Scriptures requiring that the candidate shall be in the 
Spirit, in Christ, begotten of God, before baptism. 

(1.) The candidate cannot confess Christ before he 
is in the Spirit, and begotten of God. Of the unre- 
generate man: "The natural man receiveth not the 
things of the Spirit of God : for they are foolishness 
unto him."— 1 Cor. 2:14. See Chapter XI, of this 
book, on Depravity. Surely, no one, to whom Christ 
is foolishness, can, Scripturally, profess Him. Paul 



364 



THE BIBLE AGAINST 



is very clear on this : "No man can say that Jesus is 
Lord, but in the Holy Spirit." Ed Tzvzbfmxt aycco — en 
pneumati hagio is here rightly rendered, in the Re- 
vised Version, "in the Holy Spirit." Campbellites, 
who believe so much in en, should accept this render- 
ing. 1 Cor. 12:3. But what does "in the Spirit" 
mean? A few quotations will answer: "My con- 
science bearing witness with me in the Holy Ghost ;" 
"peace and joy in the Holy Ghost." — Eom. 9 :1; 14 : 
17. Jesus said to Peter: "Blessed art thou, Simon 
Bar-Jonah: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it 
unto thee, but my Father who is in heaven." — Matt. 
16 :17. Many others had the opportunities that Peter 
had; yet they knew not that He was "the Son of 
God." Stier : "Flesh and blood — this includes in 
Christ's thoughts the two things together, namely, the 
natural man Simon as the son of his father, and at the 
same time pointing back to v. 13, men."- — Words of 
Jesus, Vol. 2, p. 316. Bengel : "The Heavenly 
Father had revealed it to Peter .... and inscribed 
it on his heart." — in I. Adam Clarke : "The darkness 
must be removed from the heart by the Holy Spirit 
before a man can become wise unto salvation." — in I. 
Scott : "He was blessed because he was regenerate."-- 
in I. Matt. Henry : "Saving faith is the gift of God, 
wrought by Him." — in I. See Anderson on Regener- 
ation, pp. 142-144. John is an infallible commen- 
tary on this, when he says : "Whosoever believeththat 
Jesus is the Christ is begotten of God." — 1 John 5:1. 
In v. 4, John says : "Whatsoever is begotten of God 
overcometh the world." The latter part of v. 4 says, 
"Whatsoever" is "our faith." Pan — nav — nomina- 
tive, accusative, neuter can refer to only faith. In 
verse 1, in which person is spoken of, we have tzclc, — 



BAPTISMAL REGENEKATION. 



365 



pas — masculine. Verse 4, uses pan to denote the 
quality of nature — faith — inherited from the Spirit, 
by Whom we are begotten. This reference of the 
neuter, to faith, corresponds with faith as proof of re- 
generation in v. 1. See Chapter XVII, Section 3, of 
this book, on the nature of faith. Thus ' 'in the Spirit" 
means one who has been begotten of God, by which 
we believe in Christ, and can say, < 'Thou art the 
Christ, the Son of the living God." To the carnal 
mind, 6 'the natural man," this is "foolishness;" com- 
pare Rom. 8 :5-8 ; 1 Cor. 2 :14 — but he that "is in the 
Holy Ghost" "is begotten of God," "believeth that 
Jesus is the Christ" — compare 1 Cor. 12:3 and 1 John 
5 :1 — and can, therefore, confess him. Hence, Jesus 
says : "Every one therefore who shall confess in me" 
— marginal rendering of the Revised Version — "be- 
fore men in him will I also confess before my Father 
who is in heaven."— Matt, 10 :32 ; Luke 12:8. That 
the marginal rendering is the only right rendering is 
certain from the original being : ev ijuoc — en emoi and 
e'v adzed — en auto. Jesus says : "I in them and thou 
in me, that they may be perfected into one." — John 
17:23. Notice how guardedly Jesus speaks, in the 
next verse : "Whosoever shall deny me" — fie — accusa- 
tive "him" — duzov — accusative — "will I deny." That 
we must be in the Spirit, in Christ, to profess him in 
baptism, the Scriptures make certain. "For in one 
Spirit were we all baptized into one body." — iCor. 12 : 
13. Ev ku dveofiazt — en heni pneumati — as rendered by 
the Revised Version "in one Spirit," is the only true 
rendering of this passage. By grace brought into the 
Spirit ; baptism symbolically expressed this as it bap- 
tized them into the external part of the church- -the 
outward organization. As Neander says : He "speaks 



366 



THE BIBLE AGAINST 



of baptism on the supposition that it corresponded to 
.... the divine facts which it symbolized." — 
Planting and Training the Christian Church p. 452 ; 
Baumgarten's Hist. Apost. Ch.,Vol. 1 p. 13, 68. So 
Olshausen, MacKnight, The Bible Commentary, ren- 
der and interpret it, "in one Spirit." As true faith is 
begotten of God, is proof that we are begotten of 
God, are in the Spirit, and are in Christ, Philip — in 
that sense — demanded, in order to the Eunuch's bap- 
tism, that he should give the evidence of faith, as 
proof that he was then, already, in Christ — already 
saved — what Baptists call "an experience." Hence he 
said : "If thou believest with all thine heart thou may- 
est." — Acts 8: 37. | How different all of this from 
Campbellism ! Philip required belief, or "an experi- 
ence," as the proof that he was, then, already begotten 
of God, already in Christ — saved ; Campbellism re- 
quires what Campbellites call belief, in order that they 
may be baptized, literally, into the Spirit, into Christ, 
that they may be literally saved ! Philip and all the 
ministers of the New Testament never thought of any 
one confessing Christ before being in the Spirit, in 
Christ — saved ; Campbellism demands this confession 
in order to get into the Spirit, into Christ — to be 
saved. They baptized because their candidates were 
in the Spirit, in Christ — saved ; Campbellites baptize 
because their candidates are not in the Spirit, not in 
Christ — not saved ! ! ! 

Section IV. Symbolically baptized into Christ, 
symbolically ivashed, symbolically saved— The symbol- 
ism and the design of baptism. 

t Of course, I know the weight of authority is against v. 37. 
But though it may not he genuine, as it crept into the text very 
early, it is of great weight as to the practice of the early church 
baptizing only those who were in Christ. 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 



367 



1. Baptism a symbol, a figure. A symbol is "an em- 
blem or representation of anything." — Webster. So 
is a figure. Though the two words have slightly differ- 
ent meanings, in some connections, I here use them in 
the same sense. That we are not literally and physi- 
cally baptized into Jesus Christ is certain. (1) Be- 
cause no one can be literally and physically buried 
with Christ. (2) Because no one can literally and 
physically arise with Christ. Only by having been 
physically and literally buried in the grave and physi- 
cally and literally raised with Him, can any one have 
been physically and literally buried and raised, with 
Him. Then, the burial and the rising would not have 
been in or by water baptism. Rom. 6 :3-5. (3) To 
have been physically and literally baptized into Christ 
would leave us denationalized and unsexed. "There 
can be neither Jew nor Greek, there can be neither 
bond nor free, there can be no male and female : 
for ye are all one man in Christ Jesus." — Gal. 3 : 28. 
The reason in v, 27 : — " For as many of you as were 
baptized into Christ did put on Christ." (4) Camp- 
bellites concede that baptism is symbolical. Alluding 
to Acts 22 : 16, Alexander Campbell says : "To wash 
away sins is a figurative expression. Like other met- 
aphysical expressions, it puts the resemblance in place 
of the proper word." — Christian System, p. 214. 
Moses E. Lard, speaking of the same passage : "That 
the expression is metaphorical is granted. Sins are 
not washed away, they are remitted." — What Bap- 
tism is For , Number 5, p. 2. Let it, then, be put 
into capitals, that the ablest Campbellites admit 

THAT BAPTISM IS SYMBOLICAL. 

2. Baptism is only a symbol or figure. Of course, 
I include act and duty in symbol and figure. (I) 



368 



THE BIBLE AGAINST 



That it is only a symbol or figure every evidence that 
it is a symbol or figure equally proves. Look over the 
above proofs of its symbolic nature, and decide if the 
fact that we cannot be physically and literally baptized 
into Christ, means anything else than that we can be 
baptized into Christ only symbolically ? If we cannot 
literally wash away sins, and yet do wash them away, 
is it not, certainly, only a symbolical washing away? 

(2) Who will claim that while "the blood of bulls 
and goats and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the 
unclean" could only be a figure of cleansing the soul, 
that it, in part, did cleanse the soul? (Heb. 9:13.) 

(3) Who will claim that while "the law" was a 
"shadow of the good things to come," it was, in part, 
the reality of those things? (Heb. 10 : 1) (4) Who 
will claim that the figures, in the Book of Kevelation, 
are, in part, the things themselves? (5) Can the 
shadow of a great rock, a great building, be any part 
of the rock, the building? (6) Can any symbol or 
figure be any part of the thing symbolized or re- 
quired? A sj^mbol is, in the language of Webster, 
"the sign or representation of something." In Web- 
ster's language, a figure, "the representation of any 
form," etc. "Figurative, representing by a figure, 
or by resemblance; typical; representative." 

The very fact, then, that baptism is symbolical is 
conclusive that it cannot, literally, wash away, remit, 
pardon, regenerate, baptize into Christ — that it cannot, 
literally save. If it cannot literally save, it can only 
figuratively save. 

All symbols as figures but represent; 
Baptism is a symbol; 
Therefore, baptism only represents. 

The design of all figures is but to represent ; 



BAPTIS3IAL HE GENERATION . 



369 



Baptism is a figure — even by Cauipbellite concession; 
Therefore, the design of baptism is to only represent. 

3. All language speaks of the figure as though it 
ivere literal — real. The seven kine of Gen. 41; the 
priests, the sacrifices of the Old Testament, are all 
spoken of as real. Ezekiel's valley of dry bones is 
spoken of as literal — real. — Ezek. 37. Daniel's and 
John's visions are all spoken of as though literal, real, 
beasts, candlesticks, etc. The parables all read as 
though they were to be understood as literal — real. 
The Lord's Supper, symbolizing the body and blood 
of Christ, is called "my body," "my blood. "--Matt. 
26:27, 28. The Gentiles are presented to Peter as 
literal — real "four-footed beasts and creeping things 
of the earth, and fowls of heaven." — Acts 10: 9-16. 
The man, cleansed from leprosy, was commanded : "Go 
thy way, show thyself to the priest, and offer for thy 
cleansing those things which Moses commanded, for a 
testimony unto them." — Mark 1: 44. See Lev. 14: 
1-7, where the one, already clean, is represented as 
unclean, and as washing to be cleansed, etc. Prof. 
J. E. Farnam : "The idiom of the Hebraic-Greek, 
the language spoken by Christ and His Apostles, of 
which these passages (viz. Mark 1:4; Acts 2: 38; 
Acts 22 : 16), are literal translations, consist in apply- 
ing to a declaratory rite, a term which properly des- 
ignates that of which the rite is merely declaratory 
or symbolical. — Design of Baptism, by Kirtly, p. 
196. 

4. Campbellism is the Romanism literalizing r , and 
making a sacrament of baptism. TheEoman Catholic 
shuts his eyes to the nature of symbolic language, to 
the symbolic nature of the Supper, to faith only as 
that through which the penitent feeds on Christ, and 



370 



THE BIBLE AGAINST 



declares that "this is my body," "this is tny blood" 
"means what it says" — is to be taken literally — as 
real : that, therefore, we cannot partake of Christ 
except in the Sapper ! Ditto : The Campbellite seizes 
those symbolical passsages on baptism; shuts his eyes 
to the nature of symbolical language and to faith only 
as partaking of Christ ; and declares that we are, lit- 
erally, baptized into Christ, literally — really saved by 
baptism; that, before baptism, no one can be saved. 
Both errors feed upon the blunder of confounding the 
symbolic with the real. The Roman Catholic is trans- 
substantiation of Christ into the Supper and into bap- 
tism ; the Campbellite is transubstantiation of Christ 
into the water. That is, the substance of Christ, — of 
the blessings of salvation, they both profess to find in 
the water — in the language of Alexander Campbell, 
"Christian immersion is the gospel in the water." — 
Christian Baptist, p, 417 '. Or, in the language of 
the Roman Catholics : "Not only remission of original 
sin in baptism, but also all which properly has the 
nature of sin, is cut off." — Council of Trent, on p. 
58, of "The Mould of Doctrine," by J. B. Thomas, 

5. The Roman Catholic the consistent party. The 
Roman Catholic shuts his eyes to common sense, to 
the evidence of the senses, to the nature of symbolic 
language, to the nature of grace and to the whole 
Bible and swallows down symbolical language as lit- 
eral — real. In this he is consistent. For if the sym- 
bolic is the real, as to the baptism, it is as to the Sup- 
per. With the Roman Catholic, the Campbellite 
swallows the symbolic as the real until he gets out of 
the water, when he strangely drops his mother's teach- 
ing and consistency, and takes up the Baptist — that the 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 



371 



Supper is only figurative! " Zwingle, alone, of the 
three great leaders of the Reformation, consistently 
and at every point repudiated the saving efficacy of 
rites themselves. 'If the sacraments were the things 
signified,' he argued, 'then they could not be signs. 
For the sign and the thing signified cannot be the 
same.' " The Mould of Doctrine, p. 65. Hodges' 
System Theol. vol. 3, p. 498. This point of Camp- 
bellism, having come through Calvin through the Pres- 
byterians, naturally, presents this inconsistency. 

6. The power and the use of the symbols. The 
Guest, in the statesman of Plato, remarks: "It is 
difficult to fully exhibit greater things without the use 
of patterns." Lord Bacon : "As hieroglyphics come 
before letters, so parables come before arguments. 
And, even now, if any one wishes to let in new light on 
any subject into men's minds ... he must go the 
same way and call in the aid of similitudes." "Men 
are guided by type and not by argument." — Newman. 
"Every idea vividly before us soon appears to be true, 
unless we keep up our perceptions of the arguments 
which prove it untrue, and voluntarily coerce our 
minds to remember its falsehood." — Bagehot, in The 
Mould of Doctrine, p. 30. Thus, says Milton: 

. . . "The earth 
Is but the shadow of Heaven and things therein 
Each to each other like, more than on earth is thought/' — Old 
Testament Ethics, by the author of this book, p. 215. 

The muskets rattle, the cannons roar, the colors are 
cut down, the friends of liberty begin to waver and 
break ranks — but — look } r onder ! What does it mean? 
They rally; the enemy are in retreat, — pell-mell ! 

You exclaim what made such a change? I reply, 
nothing but the colors restored, by a brave boy, to 
their place. Nothing but the colors! You exclaim, 



372 



THE BIBLE AGAINST 



why ! those colors symbolize all that was dear and 
precious in the cause. They were the whole cause of 
liberty, restored, to the head of the army. 

7. The power and the use of baptism. The room 
that I can give this is so limited that I can do little 
more than indicate the points. 

(1) I begin with a scripture upon which Campbell- 
ites especially rely, viz. : Eom. 6 :17. Taking the ren- 
dering, as in the Common Version, — "form of doc- 
trine" — the Campbellites argue that this mould was 
baptism and that baptism, therefore, saved. The Re- 
vised Version : "Ye became obedient from the heart to 
that form of teaching whereunto ye were delivered." 
Bishop Wordsworth renders it: "You readily obeyed 
the mould of Christian faith and practice into which 
at your baptism, you were cast, as it were, like soft, 
ductile, and fluent metal in order to be cast and take 
its form." — in I. He explains that "the metaphor nat- 
urally suggests itself to the Apostle, in Corinth, where 
he was writing — a city famous for its castings in 
bronze." Adam Clarke makes the same comment and 
translation — except he does not mention baptism — and 
adds: "They were melted down under the preaching 
of the word, and were then capable of receiving the 
stamp of its purity." — in I. Tholuck : "The Apostle 
declares that Christians have become so from the heart 
and accordingly have acknowledged their sin from the 
heart, and from the heart sought forgiveness, and 
hence have decidedly surrendered themselves in some 
sort as servants to holiness . . . The passive form of 
the verb — delivered — would here evince that it is by 
the operation of the Spirit of God that a man, is 
brought to surrender himself to the gospel." — in 1. 
The word, rendered delivered, is TTapedddyre. /So Chrys- 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 



373 



ostom, Theophylact, Stuart, Bengel, Matt. Henry, Mac- 
knight, Beza, Bloomfield, De Wette, Meyer, Winer, 
Hoffman, Godet, Doddridge , etc. These Commenta- 
tors are not wholly agreed upon this passage, as to ev- 
ery particular. But they are agreed that it is a pass- 
ive work — that the Romans, instead of the doctrine, 
were delivered, and that the mould or type of doctrine 
or grace changed them into Christ's image. Cony- 
beare and Howson render it: "The mould of teach- 
ing into which ye were transmitted." These ren- 
derings substantially agree. In a note, Conybeare 
and Howson remark : 6 'St. Paul's view of the Christ- 
ian life, throughout the sixth, seventh, and eighth 
chapters is that it consists of a death and a res- 
urrection; the new made Christian dies to sin, to the 
world, to the flesh and to the law; this death he under- 
goes at first entrance into communion with Christ, and 
it is both typified and realized f when he is buried be- 
neath the baptismal waters. But no sooner is he thus 
dead with Christ than he rises with Him; he is made 
partaker of Christ's resurrection; he is united to 
Christ's body; he lives in Christ and to Christ; he is 
no longer in the flesh, but in the spirit." 

A mould shapes or forms anything. Grace moulds all 
who are cast into it into the image or form of Christ's 
death, burial, resurrection and life. Baptism, by 
burial and resurrection, is the figure of the grace- 
mould. In Rom. 6 :1-17, the Apostle by baptism, as 
the symbolical moulding into the mould of Christ's 
death, burial, resurrection, exhorts to the new life. 

t Presume, that by "realized, " they mean, brought anew to 
the soul. This, every ordinance, sermon, etc., does for the 
Christian. The passage of Scripture declares that this is all 
figuratively done in baptism — whatever these Commentators 
mean. 



374 



THE BIBLE AGAINST 



Using symbolical language, he speaks as though bap- 
tism had really wrought the great change — just as all 
symbolic language is the language of the literal — the 
real. A real mould is formative and historical. Form- 
ative, in that it moulds into its own shape that which is 
cast into it; historical, in that it preserves, hands down 
to the future, what was cast into it. Thus, a bronze 
statue is the form and the history of the form, the 
features, etc., of Napoleon. The Christian, having 
been moulded into Christ, is his image, statue — repre- 
senting and handing him down to men. A symbolic 
mould is formative, and historical. Like the statue of 
Napoleon it presents the features of Christ's work — 
His burial, resurrection. As the statue of Napoleon 
is the history of the physical features of Napoleon, 
baptism is the history of the features of Christ's 
work — burial — death — resurrection . Baptism is 
Christ's death and resurrection in symbol. Baptism, 
as the statue of Napoleon preaches Napoleon, preaches 
Christ. Christ's death and His resurrection, — these 

are the Gospel. "For I delivered unto you 

how that CTlirist died for our sins .... and that he 
was buried ; and that he hath been raised on the third 
day." — 1 Cor. 10:3, 4. Every baptism declares He 
died for our sins, was buried and arose for our justifi- 
cation. Baptism is the standing monument of Chris- 
tianity. Strauss says: "This is the centre of the 
centre — the real heart of Christianity "with it the 
truth of Christianity stands or falls." Spinoza: "If 
I could believe the resurrection I would become a 
Christian at once." Ewald : "It is the culmination of 
all the miraculous events which are conceivable from 
the beginning of its history to its close." Christlieb : 
"The resurrection is the proof of all other dogmas, 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 



375 



the foundation of our Christian life and hope, the soul 
of the entire Apostolic preaching, the corner-stone on 
which the Church is built." — Modern Doubt, p. 455. 
Wescott : "We must place it in the very front of our 
confession, with all that it includes, or we mustbe pre- 
pared to lay aside the Christian name." — Gospel of 
the Resurrection, p. 7. "To preach the fact of the 
resurrection was the first function of the evangelists ; 
is the great office of the Church; to learn the meaning 
of the resurrection is the task, not of one age only, but 
of all." Fairbairn says this resurrection "created the 
Church." "It is the resume of historical yet super- 
natural Christianity." — In The Mould of Doctrine, 
pp. 45,46. On Rom. 6:45, Dr. Schaff : "All 
commentators of note (except Stuart and Hodge) ex- 
pressly admit or take it for granted that in this verse 

the ancient prevailing mode of baptism by 

immersion, is implied, as giving force to the idea of 
going down of the old and rising up of the new." — 
Dangers Com. on Romans, Note, p. 202. Conybeare 
and Howson : "This passage cannot be understood un- 
less it be borne in mind that the primitive mode was 
by immersion." As unmistakably as the print of the 
the nails in His hands proclaims the resurrection ; as 
unmistakably as the Passover proclaimed the deliver- 
ance of Israel; as unmistakably as the Fourth of July 
proclaims the declaration of independence; as unmis- 
takably as the Supper proclaims our eating, repeatedly, 
of the body and the blood of Christ, so unmistakably 
does baptism proclaim the death and the resurrection 
of Christ. To silence the doubter in Corinth, on the 
resurrection, Paul exclaimed, in amazement: "Else 
what shall they do who are immersed because of the 
dead ? If the dead are not raised at all why then are 



376 



THE BIBLE AGAINST 



they immersed because of theni?" — [my rendering] — 
1 Cor. 15:29. In the language of Adam Clarke: 
4 'The sum of the Apostle's meaning appears to be 
this : If there be no resurrection of the dead, those 
who, in becoming Christians, expose themselves to all 
manner of privations, crosses, severe sufferings, and a 
violent death can have no compensation, nor any mo- 
tive sufficient to induce them to expose themselves to 
such miseries. But as they receive baptism as an em- 
blem of death, in voluntarily going under the water, 
so they receive it as an emblem of the resurrection 
unto eternal life, in coming up out of the water; thus 
they are baptized for the dead in perfect faith of the 
resurrection." — in I. Bo to Christian baptism it is 
referred by Chrysostom, Theodoret, Tlieophylact, to 
which is almost the general consent of primitive 
Christians."— Smith's Bib. Die, Vol 1, p. 242. 
Olshausen : "The explanation is the prevalent one 
among the Christian fathers." — in I. So MacKnight, 
The Bible Commentary, Hammond, Burkett, Wet- 
stein, Pyle, Bloomfield; and Barnes well says : "The 
opinion . . . that the Apostle here refers to baptism," 
as the confession, in entering the Church, "is the most 
simple and best meets the design of the argument." 

Thousands of skeptics, as well as others, have had 
the death, the resurrection of Christ so vividly set be- 
fore them, by baptism, as to be led to Christ. In the 
Missionary Magazine is a letter from a Romanist, who 
after witnessing a baptism, in the Baptist Church of 
Paris, wrote the pastor : "My Dear Mr. Lepoids : — 
I am still under the impression of that beautiful cere- 
mony at which I had the happiness of being present. 
I will tell you frankly that it is the only thing which 
has spoken to my heart ; I could not keep back the tears. 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 



377 



I was then able to see the gulf in which I was." Says 
the pastor : 6 'I learned from our door-keeper of an- 
other person, who also witnessed the last baptism, who 
was moved to the depths of her consciousness. She 
came and begged our door-keeper to 6 sell her a Bible, 
that she might seek and find the truth, and the salva- 
tion of her soul.' We believe that many such impres- 
sions were made on Sunday." Eev. I. W. Bruner 
writes to the Western Recorder , speaking of a baptism : 
"The lady emerged from the liquid grave shouting; 
her husband shouted. A religious interest at once 
filled the hearts of many of God's children present . . 

. . . The convicting Spirit entered the hearts of not 
a few sinners, and the cry arose, 'What must we do 
to be saved?' .... At the next Church meeting 
twelve persons presented themselves as candidates 
for baptism, referring their conviction to this won- 
derful meeting." I have seen the scoffer brought 
to his knees at this presentation of Christ cruci- 
fied — buried, arising. I do not believe that there 
is a Baptist minister, of much experience, who can- 
not testify to the burial and the resurrection of 
Christ, when symbolically preached in baptism — 
as convicting, saving sinners. E. M. Goulburn, Epis- 
copalian, alluding to Romans 6, — "buried with him 
in baptism" — in his Bampton Lectures of 1867, 
says: "There can be no doubt that baptism when 
administered in the primitive, most correct form, 
is a divinely constituted emblem of bodily resur- 
rection. And it is to be regret ed that the form of 
administration unavoidably, (if it be unavoidably) 
adopted in cold climates should utterly obscure the em- 
blamatic signification of the rite, and render unintelligi- 
ble to all but the educated, the Apostle's association of 
burial and resurrection with the ordinance. Were im- 



378 



THE BIBLE AGAINST 



mersion universally practiced, this association of two 
present heterogenous ideas would become intelligent to 
the humblest. The water enclosing over the entire per- 
son would preach of the grave, which yawns for every 
child of Adam, and which will one day engulf every 
one of us in its drear abyss. But that abyss will be 
the womb and seed plant of a new life. Animation 
having been for one instance suspended beneath the 
water, (a type of this interruption of man's energies 
by death), the body is lifted up again into air by way 
of expressing emblematically the new birth of res- 
urrection. 59 — Quoted. Conybeare and Howson, Epis- 
copalians: <4 It must be a subject of regret, that the 
general discontinuance of this original form of baptism 
has rendered obscure to popular apprehen- 
sion some very important passages of Scripture." — 
The Life and Epistles of Paul, Vol. I, p. 471 — in 
Baptizein, p. 157. 

That Christianity would soon make every home, ev- 
ery village, every city and every county a heaven, if 
all Christians would baptize, live as they ought to live, 
I have no doubt. Being Christ's death and resurrec- 
tion, in symbol, baptism was the initial of His minis- 
try; the close of His ministry; — "baptize all nations 
the only duty in which the Trinity is mentioned," the 
only scene in which the Trinity ever appeared on 
earth; — Matt. 3 : — the only ordinance in which all 
righteousness is sj'mbolically fulfilled; — Matt. 3: 15 — 
the only ordinance so fully symbolizing Christianity 
that its administration is necessary but once; the only 
ordinance that so fully symbolizes all blessings and 
privileges in Christ and in the Church, as to constitute 
the very ceremony by which the new born soul makes 
the confession and enters into the outward form of 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 



379 



the Church and the kingdom of God. f (2.) Sym- 
bolically baptized into remission of sin, into Christ, 
into His kingdom and Church, ' 'into the name of the 
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost," and 
symbolically saved. See Section 3, Argument "25," 
in this Chapter, in which it is clearly proved that into 
is the primary meaning of — eis. So Mr. Hand, a 
leading Campbellite : "The primary meaning of eis is 
into. Then they were to be baptized into remission of 
sins, or into a state in which remission was." — Text 
Book Exposed, p. 197. The subject is said to be bap- 
tized, symbolically, into Christ, into the Trinity, into 
remission of sins, etc., varying the expression only as 
it symbolically expresses different sides of the subject. 

(a) "Go ye therefore and make disciples of all na- 
tions, baptizing them into the name of the Father, 
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."— Matt. 28 : 
19. G. W. Clarke, Bengel, Hasse, Stier — in fact, 
scholarship, especially modern scholarship, has decided 
that into — as the Revised Version renders it — is the 
only true rendering of eta — eis — in the Commission. 
As G. W. Clarke comments: "By the authority" is 
not the idea, "here intended." "The authority is 
found in the command and in the power and majesty 
of Christ." — in I. The expression means : as they, 
by grace, have been brought into the Father, the Son, 
and the Holy Spirit, let them profess this, by out- 
wardly acknowledging it, and pledge themselves to it 
by a symbolical baptism into the name of the Father, 
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. 

(5) Baptized into Christ. The expressions, "bap- 

f I wish every oue of my readers would buy and read The 
Mould of Doctrine, by J. B. Thomas, D. D.. and The Position of 
Baptism in the Christian System, by Henry Tucker, D. D., for I 
have room to only touch this part of the subject. 



380 



THE BIBLE AGAINST 



tized (e/c) into Christ," ' 'baptized into(£?c)his death." 
— Rom. 6 :3, 4 ; Gal. 3: 27, are of the same import as 
"into the name of the Father and of the Son and of 
the Holy Spirit." But the subject is presented in 
these expressions so as to present us in our relations 
to God as the Father, the Spirit as related to us through 
having inspired the word, having regenerated and 
sealed us and as bearing witness with our spirits to our 
conversion, as sanctifying and preserving us, and as 
related to Christ as our Savior. Here I heartily adopt 
the words of Alexander Campbell, but use them in the 
figurative sense, while he used them as the Romanists 
do "this is my body," "this is my blood" — literally. 
The statement of Mr. Campbell is fatal to the literally 
in order to theory. His words are : "I am not desir- 
ous of diminishing the difference between immersing 
a person in the name of the Father, and into the name 
of the Father. They are quite different ideas. But 
it will be asked is this a correct translation ? To which 
I answer, most undoubtedly it is. For the preposi- 
tion eis is that used in this place and not en. By what 
inadvertency the king's translations gave it en instead 
of into in this passage and elsewhere into w r hen speak- 
ing of the same ordinance, I presume not to say. But 
they have been followed by most modern translators, 
and with them translate it into in other places where it 
occurs in relation to this institution. For example: 
1 Cor. 12 : 13 ; For by one spirit we are all immersed 
into one body. Rom. 6:3: Don't you know that so 
many of us as were immersed into Jesus Christ were 
immersed into his death? Gal. 3: 27; As many of 
you as have been immersed into Jesus Christ, have put 
on Christ. Now, for the same reason they ought to 
have rendered the following passages the same way : 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 



381 



— Acts 8 :16 : Only they were immersed into the name 
of the Lord Jesus. 19:3: Into what name were you 
then immersed? When they heard this they were im- 
mersed into the name of the Lord Jesus. 1 Cor. 1 : 13 : 
Were you immersed into the name of Paul? Lest 
any should say I had immersed into my own name. 
1 Cor. 10:1. Our fathers were all immersed into 
Moses in the cloud and in the sea . . . They were im- 
mersed into Moses, not into the cloud and into the sea, 
but in the cloud and in the sea. To be immersed into 
Moses is one thing, and in the sea is another. To be 
immersed into the name and in the name of the Father 
are just as distinct. In the name is equivalent to by 
the authority of . . . Persons are said to enter into 
matrimony, to enter into an alliance, to get into debt, 
to run into danger. Now, to be immersed into the 
name of the Lord Jesus was a form of speech in an- 
cient usage as familiar and significant as the preceding. 
And when we analyze these expressions, we find they 
all import that the persons are either under the obliga- 
tions or influence of those things into which they are 
said to enter, or into which they are introduced. Hence 
those immersed into one body were under the influ- 
ences and obligations of that body. Those immersed 
into Moses assumed Moses as their law-giver, guide, 
and protector, and risked everything upon his authori- 
ty, wisdom, power, and goodness. Those who were 
immersed into Christ put him on, and acknowledged 
his authority and laws, and were governed by his will; 
and those who were immersed into the name of the 
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, regarded the Father as 
the fountain of all authority — the Son as the only 
Savior — and the Holy Spirit as the only advo- 
cate, the truth, and teacher, of Christianity. 



382 



THE BIBLE AGAINST 



Hence, such persons as were immersed into the 
name of the Father acknowledged him as the. only 
living and true God — Jesus Christ as his only begotten 
Son, the Savior of the world — and the Holy Spirit as 
the only successful advocate of the Truth of Chris- 
tianity upon earth." — Christian System — note — pp. 
189, 190. Truer words were never uttered. Only 
take this baptism into as the symbol of the mfo Christ, 
which grace has, already, wrought, and you have the 
truth. Like w r ith the Romanist, who says, 4 'this is 
my body," "this is my blood," we sa}% Amen ; but 
Amenbecause these are but symbols of the body and 
the blood, already — long ago — offered. We adopt 
the language of both the Pope and Mr. Campbell; 
but, adopting them as sj'mbols — standing upon the 
Bible alone, we are as world wide from Mr. Campbell 
as from the Pope. Mr. Campbell, then, admits that 
these various expressions mean baptized into and not 
in order to. His explanations of them are correct, 
save, they are figurative, while he makes them literal. 
(3) Baptized " into (eca) repentance," "into {eta) 
remission of sins." — Matt. 3:11; Mark 1 :4 ; Acts 2 :38. 
That eis should, in these passages, be rendered "into" 
instead of "unto," "for," etc., is from the laws of 
language, and the import of baptism, certain. Thus : 
I indeed immerse you in [iv] water into [s/tf] repent- 
ance;" "John . . . preached the immersion of re- 
pentance into [i&r] the remission of sins;" "be 
immersed each of you . . . into [e/tf] the remis- 
sion of sins." These expressions are symbolical only. 
They mean : As brought by grace into God's favor — 
into the spirit, the act, the state of repentance and re- 
mission of sins; in other words, having repented, hav- 
ing your sins remitted, now, in baptism, outwardly, 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 



383 



express the blessedness of that state into which and 
with which you are covered. Just as the sister ordi- 
nance says : 6 6 As you repeatedly, inwardly, by faith, 
eat the body, and the blood of Christ, express it out- 
wardly by eating it, symbolically, which is done 
by eating the bread and drinking the wine, one is as 
plainly symbolical as is the other. One is as easily 
perverted into the literal, so as to destroy its design, 
and thereby itself, as is the other. 

I will here introduce the testimonies of two Biblical 
scholars — Lutherans — whose Church believes in bap- 
tismal regeneration. Their testimony is the more val- 
uable, for its being against their own Church. Ne- 
ander : 4 'Since the Church is no other than the out- 
ward visible representation of the universal communion 
of believers with the Redeemer, and with one another, 
.... both in respect to its inward and outward 
manifestation, the ordinances of Baptism and the Sup- 
per were instituted as outward visible signs to repre- 
sent as actually existing, the facts in which the essence 
of this fellowship rests. Baptism denotes the confes- 
sion of dependence on Christ and the entrance into 
communion with Him ; and hence the appropriation of 
all which Christ promises to those who stood in such 

a relation to Him; it is the patting on Christ 

The two-fold relation of man to the former views of 
life which he had renounced, and to those new ones 
which he had embraced, is signified — entering into fel- 
lowship with the death of Christ, into a believing ap- 
propriation [my italics], of the work of redemption 
accomplished by his death, dying with him in the 
spirit to the world in which he has hitherto lived ; 
mortifying self as it heretofore existed, and by faith 
in his resurrection as a pledge of resurrection to eter- 



384 



THE BIBLE AGAINST 



nal life in a transformed personality, rising in a new 
life devoted no longer to the world but to Him, alone. 
— Rom. 6:4. In accordance with this train of 
thought Paul terms baptism a baptism into the death 
of Christ. As for the same reason he calls it a bap- 
tism into the resurrection of Christ .... It is Christ 
who imparts the true baptism of the Spirit, of which 
water baptism is only the symbol . . . . Therefore, bap- 
tism in the name of Christ is at the same time, bap- 
tism in the name of the Father and of the Holy Spirit 

and hence he says, that Christ by baptism 

has purified the whole Church ; Eph. 5 : 26. 

And yet, it is certain that Paul derives 

everything from faith. If any one had wished to at- 
tribute to the power of an outward, sensible ceremony 
what is to be deduced from its internal ap- 
propriation through faith, Paul would have applied to 
baptism what he said of circumcision, that it was a re- 
turn to the elements of the world, a putting on the car- 
nal." — Planting and Training of the Christian 
Church, pp. 451, 452; [my Italics.] On page 454 : 
"Baptism as baptism into the death of Christ, also in- 
troduces believers into His communion. In baptism 
they put on Christ, just as in the Supper they eat His 
flesh and drink His blood." Baumgarten : "In the 
washing of baptism the whole bodj^ is changed ; as un- 
clean it goes into the water, and as a new body it 

comes up again If then we have given us 

the instrument of such a change, not water, but the 
Holy Ghost, the only effect that can be meant must be 
one which changes the whole inner man as completely 
as water does the body." In connection with this the 
writer says: "The connection is this; that which in 
the one case occurs as a type, appears in the latter to 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 



385 



be fulfilled; the contrast is, that in the latter the Holy 
Ghost takes the place which water holds in the for- 
mer."— Apost. Hist., Vol. I, pp. 13, 12. On p. 68 : 
6 'Baptism embraces the natural body of men, and 
brings it by the outward rite into definite relation to 
the ascended Jesus ; then we have precisely the same 
as that which St. John calls the hearing, seeing, 
and handling of eternal life (1 John 1 : 3). ,? As the 
Church and the kingdom of God, of heaven, are the 
outward expression and form of the blessed reign of 
grace, established in the soul, by the new creation and 
the indwelling of the Spirit, its expression in baptism, 
is appropriately the ordinance which brings us into the 
outward part of the Church, by which we are entitled 
to be regarded as members of His Church and kingdom. 

(4) Hence, Jesus says : "Except a man be born of 
water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the king- 
dom of God." — John 3:5. With very few excep- 
tions, scholars of all ages and of all creeds have un- 
derstood baptism to be the birth of water. Had this 
passage not been perverted into water salvation, like 
every other passage has which speaks of or alludes to 
baptism, and as the words, "this is my body," etc., 
have been perverted into bread and wine salvation, I 
do not think any one would ever have denied its allu- 
sion to baptism. f As Baptists, w T e stand so clearly on 

t To the statement that "this cannot refer to baptism, because 
baptism is never, in the Scriptures, unless here, called a 
birth." I decidedly dissent. 1. Because, if the premise were 
true, the conclusion does not necessarily follow. Only once in 
the Bible is it said that a serpent symbolized Christ; — John 3 :14 
— that Hagar is a figure of Sinai; — Gal. 4 :24, 25 — that Melchisi- 
dec is a type of Christ — Heb. 7. A thing being mentioned but 
once in the Bible is no proof as to its meaning. 2. But the pre- 
mise is not true. Why? (1) Eesurrection is called a birth, — 
"the first born from the dead, "—Col. 1:18. (2) Being made 



386 



THE BIBLE AGAINST 



the Bible alone that we need not resort to exegesis in- 
stead of exegesis. Being born anew — a birth by which 
we are bora from spiritual death as was our Savior — 
Col. 1 :18 — from natural death, the symbolical water 
birth is given to express this ; just as the symbolical 
washing, the symbolical burial and the symbolical res- 
urrection — all in the one act of baptism — express our 
blood washing, the spiritual and the bodily death of 
ourselves and the bodily death of our Kedeemer. To 
say that this resurrection, being presented in baptism, 
obviates the necessity, of baptism figuring a birth, is 
to say what is not true ; for this expression of a resur- 
rection, while expressing the same resurrection that 
birth from the dead expresses, does not, in the least, 
express that important and significant part of it as 
being a birth. One of the grandest symbolical expres- 
sions, then, of baptism, and expressed by baptism 
only, is that we are born from spiritual death. Sym- 
bolically baptized into the death, the resurrection of 
Christ — into the Trinity, into Christ, into repentance, 

anew in Christ is called a resurrection from the dead. — Eph. 2 :2, 
6. From being made anew in Christ being a resurrection, a new 
birth— John 1:13; 1 Peter 1-23; 1 John 3:9; 4:7; 5 :1, 4, 8— and 
from a resurrection being called a birth, we should naturally ex- 
pect the symbol of the change wrought by grace to be called a 
birth. Hence, instead of " born of water," as meaning baptism 
being a strange figure, it is only what we should expect. For 
how can baptism represent all the phases of grace, in saving us, 
without expressing that one, so significant and important, — viz., 
u born from the dead?" Washed from sin ; — Acts 22 :16 — buried, 
risen from the dead, — Rom. 6 :3, 5 — shall these appear in baptism 
and our being "born from the dead" be eliminated from the sym- 
bol? Jesus Christ says no — "except a man be born of water." 
The interpretation which makes "water" allude to the natural 
birth is equivalent but to making the passage say: Except one 
have first an existence, then be regenerated I This is more absurd 
than Origen's wild ^tsegesis. The interpretation which makes 
the "water" mean "the water of salvation," "the water of life," 



BAPTISMAL, REGENERATION. 



387 



into remission of sins ; — thus, being made members of 
the outward part of the Church and the kingdom, we 
are (5), symbolically, saved by baptism. The Eevised 
Version : "Wherein few, that is, eight souls, were saved 
through water : which also after a true likeness doth 
now save you, even baptism, not the putting away 
of the filth of the flesh but the interrogation of a good 
conscience toward God, through the resurrection of 
Jesus Christ."— 1 Pet. 3 :20, 21. That this Scripture 
represents baptism as only figuratively saving is evi- 
dent from the facts that faith only saves the penitent 
and from baptism being only a symbolical ordinance. 
But, that it is a S}^mbolical saving is further evident(a) 
from its being declared a "figure" — fortTunov, "anti- 
typical likeness that corresponds to a type or model/' 
— Robinson 's et al. Lexs. — or "likeness" or "anti- 
type." (J>) From the fact that water saved Noah 
only in a declarative sense. See Section "2" argu- 
ment "2," of this chapter, in which it is shown that 
Noah was not only saved, but that he was a "preacher 
of righteousness" during 120 years before the flood. 

etc. — appealing to such as Ezek. 36:25; Isa. 44:3; Rev. 22:17 — 
establishes the truth. But by misconstruing John 3:5. To es- 
tablish a teaching and then force it into some Scripture, which 
teaches something else, is dangerous. So of the interpretation 
which renders xdc Tzveufiaro^^ even of the Spirit, instead of "and 
of the Spirit. " No doubt that the Greek will admit of being so 
rendered. But this, being in fact, but one phase of the last in- 
terpretation, is subject to the same repudiation. The interpreta- 
tion which renders the Greek "born of water and Spirit,'* making 
Spirit; mean the spirit of Christianity and the water its purifying 
influence, may be made include the two latter interpretations. 
As pneumatos is notpreceded by the article — being Spirit in lieu 
of the Spirit — this interpretation looks more plausible, at first 
sight. But in several other passages the Holy Spirit is so clearly 
meant that the article is omitted. As examples, see Gal. 5:18, 25 
compared with verse 22, in which is mentioned the same Spirit 
with the article. 



388 



THE BIBLE AGAINST 



Compare Gen. 6: 8, 9; 2 Pet. 2: 7; Heb. 11: 7. 

To say that the water really saved Noah we know 
would be saying what is not true. Because he was 
saved 120 years before the flood; there was nothing in 
the flood to save him — he was saved from it instead of 
by it. Nor will it do to say that the flood saved him 
from the corrupting influence of the wicked, by their 
destruction ; for grace saved him from that during 120 
years and would have continued to thus save him. 
A leading Campbellite preacher, named Robertson, in 
my hearing, in Weatherford, Tex., as I noted it, ver- 
batim, said : ' 'Noah was saved from sins when he en- 
tered the ark." But by lifting Noah above a lost, 
drowned world, the flood declaratively saved Noah — 
declared to men, to angels, to himself, and to the le- 
gions of hell, that he was saved. So baptism separates 
us, outwardly, into the outward part of the Church, 
declares us saved — declares thereby what is already 
done inwardly — declares what has been really done, 
(c) That baptism does not literally save us, the pass- 
age declares, in that it reads, 6 4 not the putting away 
the filth of the flesh ." That "the filth of the flesh" 
is our sins is clear from the following Scriptures : 
"For when we were in the flesh the sinful passions 
. . . wrought in our members to bring forth fruit unto 
death." — Kom. 7: 5. "For the mind of the flesh 
is death . . . because the mind of the flesh is enmity 
against God . . . they that are in the flesh cannot 
please God. But ye are not in the flesh, if so be that 
the Spirit of God dwelleth in you . . . We are debt- 
ors not to the flesh to live after the flesh ; for if ye 
live after the flesh ye must die; but if by the Spirit 
ye mortify the deeds of the body ye shall live." — 
Rom. 8:6-12. "Walk by the Spirit and ye shall not 
fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 



389 



against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh . . . 
now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are 
these, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idola- 
try, sorcery, wraths, factions, divisions, heresies, 
envyings, drunkenness, and such like, of the which 
I forewarn you, even as I did forewarn you, that they 
which practice such things shall not inherit the king- 
dom of God. . . . And they that are Christ's have 
crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts 
thereof." — Gal. 5 :19-25. "He that soweth unto the 
flesh shall by the flesh reap corruption." — Gal. 6:8. 
"In whom ye were also circumcised with a circumcis- 
ion not made with hands" — if baptism saves, it is a 
circumcision "which is made with hands" — "in the 
putting off the body of the flesh."— Col. 2: 11. 
"And some save .... hating even the gar- 
ment spotted by the flesh" — Jude 23. See that 
part of the Chapter on Total Depravity, which 
is on sarx. (d) That baptism is symbolical is 
evident from the "good conscience" which interro- 
gates. Upon this, first, it is not interrogating to get a 
good conscience but interrogation of a good con- 
science — (JuvstdijcFecoz d.yadr^ — genitive. " The genitive 
is acknowledged to be the whence — case — the case de- 
noting source, departure, or descent." — Winer's IT. 
T. Gram., p. 184. Second, only the saved have a 
"good conscience," with which to seek the answer. 
"How much more shall the blood of Christ . . . . 
cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the 
living God." — Heb. 9 :14. "Let us draw near with a 
true heart, in fulness of faith, having our hearts 
sprinkled from an evil conscience." — Heb. 10 : 22. See 
Tit. 1:15; 1 Tim. 4:2; 2 Tim. 1:3; Heb. 9 :9 ; 10 :2 ; 
1 Pet. 3:16. From these Scriptures, that only the 



390 



THE BIBLE AGAINST 



regenerate have a 6 ' good conscience," is certain. 
Hence Paul said : 6 'For we are persuaded that we have 
a good conscience." — Heb. 13:18. Third. Only the 
saved would do what this conscience does. " They 
that are after the flesh — xaza, according to — do mind 
the things of the flesh" — love and care for nothing 
else. "Because the mind of the flesh is enmity against 
God ; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither 
indeed can be" — never did, does not, never "can" 
obey God. — Roni. 8 :5,7. But the conscience of which 
Peter here speaks, did what pleased God and was, thus, 
subject to the law of God. Hence, the man with this 
conscience is saved. Bengel : "Therefore it is the ask- 
4ng of a good conscience which saves us ; that is, the 
asking in which we address God with a good con- 
science, our sins being forgiven, and laid aside."— in I. 
Adam Clarke, though, like the Campbellites, holding 
that water is "the means of salvation" is also forced 
to add: "the answer of a good conscience . . . — the 
internal evidence and external proof that the soul is 
purified in the laver of regeneration." — in I. Bloom- 
field : The good conscience "can be no other than the 
inward change and renovation wrought by the Spirit." 
—in L So Barnes, Neander, et. al. But Campbell- 
ites make baptism a condition to receiving a good con- 
science. President Braden, a leading Campbellite: 
"Baptism is the condition on which we have a good 
conscience." — Braden-Hughey Debate, p. 231. See 
Chapter X of this book.f 

t Prof. J. R. Boise, D. D., of the Baptist Theol. Sem., of Mor- 
gan Park, 111., says: "AlforcTs rendering is as follows: 'Which 
(namely water; water in general; not the water of Noah's flood 
which the antitype of that, is now saving you also, even bap- 
tism; not putting away of the filth of the flesh, but inquiry of a 
good conscience after God, by means of the resurrection of Je- 
sus Christ.' All the best modern critics agree with this render- 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 



391 



The passage says that as the water, floating the ark, 
drowning the wicked, declared Noah saved — both 
spiritually and temporally saved — so baptism, which is 
the act of a blood washed-conscience, symbolically, 
declares that grace has brought us into repentance, into 
remission, into Christ, into the Trinity, — that grace 
has plunged us into the great "fountain 7 ' "opened" 
"for sin and for uncleanness." — Zech. 13:1. 

The foregoing points cover all those Scriptures rel- 
ative to baptism into Christ, into the Spirit, into the 
Father, into the Trinity, into repentance, into remis- 
ing, as the grammatical construction of the sentence. On the 
meaning of one word alone (^enepcorrjfJM?) a word occurring 
only here in the Greek Testament, there is much diversity of 
opinion. The received version says 'answer;' the Bible Union, 
'requirement; 1 Alford, 'enquiry;' Sophocles (Greek Lexicon) 
'agreement;' DeWette and many others, 'solemn vow.' [Ange- 
lobung]. The verb ircspwrdco, corresponding to the noun, oc- 
curs often in the New Testament, over sixty times, and the sim- 
ple verb epcordco, with scarcely an appreciable difference of 
meaning, equally often. A word occurring so frequently would 
be very familiar, and the substantive, almost identical in form 
with the verb, would naturally convey the same idea. Now the 
verb has the double meaning of the English word, to 'ask,' that is 
to inquire and to 'require,' to 'demand.' We may therefore with 
some confidence assign to the substantive the corresponding 
meaning, 'inquiry,' or 'requirement.' I think this last is prefer- 
able. The construction of the clause is also differently under- 
stood. Alford says inquiry . . . after God. This construc- 
tion I can by no means adopt. The simplest and most natural 
construction, with the most obvious meaning, of ercepcoz Yj paftiid 
of ic^ OeoV) would in my view, be this: baptism ... a 
thing demanded on the part of good conscience (looking) into 
the character and requirements of God. I endeavor thus to 
bring out the exact sense of ei$ Ozov a construction unusually 
frequent in this epistle."— Tlie Standard. While I understand the 
passage as does Prof. Boise, I do not regard IriEpdiT'qfia — 
the pivotal point of the verse. Whether "asking." "inquiry," 
"requiring," "agreement," "solemn vow," or even "seeking" as 
the Campbellites render it, it is of the conscience of the saved. 



392 



THE BIBLE AGAINST 



sion. They, also, cover all those Scriptures, relative 
to "born of water," "wash away thy sins," "wash- 
ing of regeneration," etc.t 

Objections. 

1. Acts 2:38, it is claimed, proves baptismal re- 
generation. After what I have established, on salva- 
tion by faith, salvation not by baptism, and the sym- 
bolism of baptism, but little is necessary to yet be 
said on this passage. Campbellites insist that Peter 
said, be baptized in order to remission. 1. I have 
shown that e^c — eis — here rendered "for" in the Com- 
mon Version, and "unto" in the Revised Version, has, 
as its well settled meaning, into ; that Campbellites 
held this when in debate with Eantists. 

2. According to the Campbellite rendering of 
eis the following passages would read: "were 
come in order to the house;" "in order to their 
country;" "in order to Egypt;" " in order to 
the land of Israel ; " "in order to parts of Galilee;" 
"dwelt in order to a city called Nazareth;" "hewn 
down and cast in order to the fire;" "baptize you 
with water in order to repentance;" "gather his 
wheat in order to his garner;" "was baptized in order 
to Jordan;" "go in order to heaven;" "returned in 
order to Jerusalem ;" "went up in order to an upper 
room ;" "go in order tohis place;" "the sun shall be 
turned in order to darkness ; " "the moon in order to 
blood;" "thou wilt not leave my soul in order to 

\Loutrou palingenesias — Xourpov Tzahvjtvtaia^ — is 
genitive — Tit. 3:5. It denotes the washiugor bath of our souls 
in and in connection with regeneration — the act of only the 
Spirit of God through the Word. This passage, probably, has no 
allusion to baptism. Yet baptism is a New Testament figure of 
the bath of regeneration. 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 



393 



hades;" "his soul was not left m order to hades;" "not 
ascended in order to the heavens;" "baptized in order 
to Jesus Christ, were baptized in order to his death ;" 
"by baptism in order to death;" "their sound in or- 
der to all the earth;" "was cast in order to the lake of 
fire;" "death and hades were cast in order to the 
lake;" was cast in order to the fire;" "glory 
and honor of the nations in order to it;" "in 
through the ^ates in order to the city." — See Matt. 
1:8 11,12,13,14; 2:20,21, 23; 3:10, 11, 12; 
Acts 1:11, 12, 13, 25; 2:20,27, 31; Rom. 6:3,4;10: 
18 ; Rev. 20 :14, 15 ; 21 :24, 2(3 ; 22 :14. I have itali- 
cised the words in order to as the translation of eis, so 
that the English reader may see the groundlessness of 
insisting that eis must mean in order to. 

3. Having seen that the general and well settled 
meaning of eis is into, we will render it "into the re- 
mission of sins." That is, as grace has really brought 
you into that state be now symbolically baptized into 
it — just as "this is my body," "this is my blood" 
symbolizes "my body" and "my blood." 

Bat it is objected, what of making it read, "repent 
and be baptized into remission of sins? If one is 
symbolical, so is the other." To this, I answer : Not 
necessarily so. (1) In John 3 :5, born of the Spirit 
is reed, while born of the water is figurative. Yet, 
they are both in one sentence. So, here, repent is 
necessary, as one step, to bring us, literally, into re- 
mission, while baptism is necessary to express our 
having been brought into it — to symbolically bring us 
into remission. Thus both repentance and baptism are 
into remission. (2) But, I do not believe that the 
same persons who are commanded to repent are here 
commanded to be baptized. My reasons for this are, 



394 



THE BIBLE AGAINST 



first, the construction of the Greek, Meravor^are — met- 
anoeesate — is second person, plural, first aorist, imper- 
ative, active voice. But BarTcadrjrco — baptistheeto~i$ 
third person, same tense and mode, and passive voice. 
We, therefore, have the command to repent in the 
second person and the command to be baptized in the 
third. Literal^, repent ye, and be every one of you 
immersed. 

Now, "in Greek, as in language in general, the verb 
is ordinarily put in the same number and person as its 
subject, or nominative case. This is its agreement, or 
concord. There is, however, this special exception ; 
that where a word in the plural, expressive of its sub- 
ject, is also in the neuter gender, the verbis usually in 
the singular. — Bagster's Lex. Baptistheeto, being 
third person, cannot agree with the second persons, 
who are the subject of metanoeesate. Thus there 
must be a different subject — different persons — for 
each verb, f If we take one class of the persons ad- 

f Lucas, in his debate with Kay, pages 213, 439, claimed that 
1 Cor. 14:39, 40, 2 Cor. 16:13,14, are of like construction to this. 
But ytvioQco in both the 14 :40; 16 :14, most clearly takes navra 
for its nominative - all things be done, while in Chapter 14 :39, 
Cylbze and xcoXobve (desire and forbid), take adeXcpoc— brethren 
as their nominative. In Chapter 16:13, 14, yprjopetre — watch, 
— (TTrjxereTSy — stand, — avSpc£e<jde — quit you like men — 
xazacobade^ — be strong, take u ye," "you," as their nominative, 
Mr. Lucas and u Pres Smith," of the Campbellite College, 
claiming 1 Cor. 14:39,40: 16:13,14, are of like construction to 
Acts 2:38, shows ignorance or a fearful amount of total depravi- 
ty. Pres. Cook, of LaGrange College, rightly decided these 
cases not parallel to Acts 2:38 To see the resorts of errorists is 
lamentable. It is.in this way all sound arguments are met, error 
sustained, and the world made believe "anything can be proved 
from the Bible.' ' 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 



395 



dressed, to be mockers, impenitent, and another class 
to be penitent and of the right spirit, we can readily 
understand the sentence. It will then be, repent ye 
mockers; be baptized ye penitent, converted ones into 
(symbolically) remission of sins. This is so undenia- 
ble that Mr. Hand, while trying to evade the teaching, 
is driven to accept it as to the grammar of the sen- 
tence. — Text Booh Exposed, p. 196. Thus, only the 
converted are commanded to be immersed into remis- 
sion, — while the others are commanded to repent. 
My second reason, that the persons here commanded 
to repent are not to be baptized, is that as repentance 
must fit the subjects to be baptized, Peter would not 
have commanded persons who had not repented to be 
baptized. The commission (a) requires that baptism 
be presented only after repentance — after being dis- 
cipled. It reads: "make disciples of all the nations, 
baptizing them," etc. — Matt. 28: 19. But, no one 
who has not repented is in a fit state of mind to con- 
sider baptism — Rom. 8: 5-9, — nor is he a disciple, 
ready for baptism. To have, in the same breath, com- 
manded the same persons to repent and be baptized, 
would have been a clear violation of the commission . 
(6) The first preachers never, before any one had re- 
pented, commanded him to be baptized. "Repent ye 
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand;" "repent ye 
and believe ;" "and they went and preached that men 
should repent ;" "except ye repent ye shall all in like 
manner perish;" "commandeth men that they should 
all everywhere repent;" "declared both to them of 
Damascus first, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all 
the country of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that 
they should repent ;" "I come to call .... sinners 
to repentance ;" "to give repentance ;" "God granted 



396 



THE BIBLE AGAINST 



repentance "testifying both to Jews and to Greeks 
repentance." — Matt. 3: 2; 4: 17; Mark 1: 15; 6: 
12; Luke 13: 3: Acts 3: 19; 8 : 22 ; 17: 30; 26: 20; 
Matt. 9 : 13 ; Acts 5 : 31 ; 11 : 18 ; 20 : 21. Not only 
did they never command impenitent ones to be bap- 
tized, but they refused them baptism and commanded 
them to repent. "But when he saw many of the 
Pharisees and the Sadducees coming to his baptism he 

said unto them Bring forth fruits worthy 

of repentance."— Matt. 3 : 3, 8 ; Acts 26 : 20. (c) A 
comparison of Acts 2 : 12, 37; 4 : 13-21, clearly shows 
that two classes of persons were in Peter's presence 
when he said, "repent ye and be every one of you im- 
mersed." One class, at the very first — v. 12 — were 
perplexed or under conviction, while the "others mock- 
ing said, They are filled with new wine." Peter's 
sermon had led these "perplexed" ones out into the 
light, by the time he uttered verse 38. But the oth- 
ers continued, if silenced, yet, impenitent, as Acts 4: 
14, etc., shows. Impressed with their hardness and 
danger, after having for some time continued his dis- 
course, he cries to them, "repent ye ;" to the convert- 
ed ones, he turned and said, "be immersed each of 
you, in the name of Jesus Christ [symbolically] into 
remission of sins." That these different "commands, 
were given to different classes, is plain enough," when 
the New Testament is carefully studied. But with the 
living voice, gesture and manner before them, this was 
unmistakable by those who saw and heard Peter utter 
the commands, (d) The connection yet further con- 
firms this interpretation. Anodes a juevoc — apodexamenoi 
— of v. 41, means to receive gladly, to welcome, to 
receive, to approve. — Robinson's and other Lexicons. 
It implies a heart affectionately inclined toward the 



BAPTISMAL RE GENERATION . 



397 



thing or the person received. Thus, in Luke 8: 40, 
the multitude welcomed or gladly received Jesus. In 
Acts 15 : 4, the Church welcomed their brethren. In 
Acts 28 : 30, Paul welcomed those whose hearts led 
them to come to hear the gospel. Hackett, De Wette, 
Meyer, JBengel, et. aL, refer us to v. 37, for explana- 
tion of those who gladly received this word. The per- 
sons who gladly received his words were the converted 
inquirers of v. 37, who said, 4 6 what shall we do?" — 
Campbellites add, "to be saved," to this. Peter, see- 
ing they were Christians, said to them, "be immersed 
each of you in the name of Jesus Christ [symbolically] 
into remission of sins." This joy, as the sequel 
shows, was the Psalmist's joy, when he sang: "He 
brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the 
miry clay : And he set my feet upon a rock, and es- 
tablished my goings." — Psa. 40 : 3. They were Bap- 
tist converts, in a Baptist meeting. Joyfully they en- 
tered the water, as children of God ; not as poor 
slaves and children of Satan, tremblingly hoping to 
find — in the language of Alexander Campbell — "the 
gospel in the water." — Christian Baptist, p. 417. 
Joyfully they realized and entered the water: — 

"Complete in Thee, — no work of mine 
May take, dear Lord, the place of Thine; 
Thy blood has pardon bought for me, 
And I am now complete in Thee." 

It is objected: "Why not let it read as in King 
James' version, or in the Eevised?" Simply because, 
for the reasons given, these versions are not so clear as 
the Greek. But both of these versions condemn the 
"in order to' 9 notion, (a) Take the Bible Union and 
Eevised Versions "unto" remission. Webster says 
"unto" means only "to." "To," he says "indicates 



398 



THE BIBLE AGAINST 



approach and arrival, motion in the direction of a 
place or thing and attaining it, access . , . effect, 
end, consequence, addition, union; accompaniment, 
and the like." Now, if "motion towards" it, is the 
meaning, it means towards, as figuring how grace 
brought us to remission. If " motion into, " as fig- 
uring how grace led us into remission. If "attain- 
ing," "access," "effect," it figures how grace gave 
us access, attained for us remission. If "addition," 
"union," "accompaniment," it figures how grace ad- 
ded to us, united to us, conferred upon us remission. 

(b) If we read it, as in King James' version, "for," 
we find Webster says "for' ' "in the place of ; instead of ; 
because of ; by reason of ; with respect to ; concerning ; 
in the direction of ; toward; the reason of anything; 
the antecedent cause, or occasion of an action; the 
motive or inducement," etc. Thus, by baptism we are 
baptized (symbolically) instead of, because of, with 
respect to, on occasion of an inducement or motive of 
or to remission. Or, literally, a receipt for money is 
an acknowledgment of its haviug been received; im- 
prisonment for crime is because crime hasbeen com- 
mitted; punishment for any act is because the act has 
been committed. Eating the body and the blood of 
Christ, in the Supper, for the blessings of Christ, is 
because they have been offered, and because, by faith, 
we have been made to spiritually eat Christ. Whether 
the prepositions be taken literally or figuratively, 
Campbellism does not, necessarily, grow out of it. 

(c) Or, take eis for in order to, it, then, does not 
teach that Campbellism is true. In order to means as 
a condition or cause of receiving. But what does bap- 
tism in order to remission — since we obtain remission 
by the blood and by faith into the blood, and since bap- 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 



399 



tism is a s}^mbol — mean, but that grace has plunged us 
into remission or is necessary to remission ? As the 
death, the resurrection of Christ and being brought 
into them were in order to remission, so baptism, their 
expression is, beautifully in a figure, in order to re- 
mission. In truth, were in order to sanctioned by eis 
as the more likely rendering, it is very sure that Camp- 
bellism is too light-headed and light-hearted and too 
little "shod" "with the preparation of the gospel of 
peace" to stand upon ice — eis; and, I should, there- 
fore, in that case, have no objection to render it in 
order to. Winer, on eis: "Used tropically it denotes 
aim or end. "— 1ST. T. Gram. , p. 396. (My italics.) 
Therefore, Hackett comments, "in order to the forgive- 
ness of sins." But he says of Acts 2:38; 22 :16: "In 
both passages baptism is represented as having this 
important efficacy, because it is the sign of repentance 
and faith which are the conditions of salvation." — On 
Acts, 22 :16. As illustrating this, Hackett refers to 
1 Cor. 6:11 where d-eXouoaade is rendered "but ye 
were washed" — (middle voice — washed yourselves or 
suffered yourselves to be washed, showing that bap- 
tism is alluded to) as though baptism had* literally, 
washed from sin. Commenting on 1 Cor. 6 :11, Adam 
Clarke says : "The washing of your bodies is emblem- 
atical of the purification of your souls." Commenting, 
in the same way, but rendering eis into, Prof. J. R. 
Boise, D. D., says: "It is of the greatest doctrinal 
importance to observe that this clause (into remission 
of sins) and the following are connected grammati- 
cally and logically, not alone with the idea of bap- 
tism, but with the three ideas combined, repentance, 
faith, baptism." Again says Prof. Boise: "Thus the 
verse contains clearly the ideas, repentance and faith 



400 



THE BIBLE AGAINST 



the inward experience of which baptism is the out- 
ward expression In The Standard, in answer to an 
inquiry of mine, in 1882. While neither Hackett nor 
Boise ever thought of speaking of baptism as thus 
being connected with remission in other than the figu- 
rative sense, Campbellites, like they use the Scriptures 
and like Rome uses 6 6 this is my body," 6 'this is my 
blood," are quoting these comments of theirs as 
sanctioning their Popish, baptismal regeneration no- 
tion. As I have no doctrinal objections to their 
words I shall not be surprised to hear that I am 
quoted on the Campbellite side! ! Such use of men's 
writings and of the Bible illustrate the principle of 
Christ's words: " A servant is not greater than his 
lord. If they persecuted me they will also persecute 
you; if they kept my word they will keep yours 
also." — John 15:20. As most of these Campbellites, 
like their Romanist fathers, who do not know the 
difference between "this is my body," "this is my 
blood," and between water cleansing literally and 
cleansing symbolically,- — know no difference between 
a symbol and the thing symbolized, we ought to pray : 
"Father, forgive them; for they know not what they 
do." It is objected : "But the gift of the Spirit, 
which means remission is promised upon baptism — 
'and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost?' " 
But, "ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures." For 
forgiveness of sin is, in the Scriptures, never said to 
be the work of the Spirit. God and Christ only for- 
give. See Matt. 6: 14,15; 9:6; Mark 2:7; 11:26; 
Luke 23: 34; Uohn9: 1; Eph. 4: 32; Col. 2: 13; 
Acts 5:31. To the Spirit belongs the work of con- 
victing, regenerating, sealing, sanctifying, etc., and, in 
the Apostolic age, the work of conferring the miraculous 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 



401 



endowments. See John 16 :7-ll ; 1 Thess. 4:5; Rom. 
8: 5, 11, 16, 27; 1 Cor. 2:4; Gal. 4: 29; 5: 16, 
17; Eph. 2: 18, 22; 3 : 16 ; 6 : 17 ; 1 Thess. 5: 19; 
2 Thess. 2 : 13 ; 1 Peter 1 : 2, 22; Acts 2:4; 10 : 19 ; 
8 : 15, 17, 19 ; 10: 44. This gift of the Holy Ghost 
was the power to work miracles, etc. It was — save in 
Acts 10 : 44-47, — conferred not only after conversion, 
but after baptism. It was conferred by laying on of 
only Apostles' hands. See Acts 8 : 14-18 ; 19:6. If 
this 4 6 gift" is remission of sins, Campbellites need to 
add another saving ordinance — that of laying on of 
hands to confer this 4 'gift" — otherwise all of their 
converts are lost, according to their own doctrines. 
On Acts 8: 15, Adam Clarke: "But for w T bat pur- 
pose w r as the Holy Spirit thus given ? Certainly not 
for the sanctification of the souls of the people; for 
they had that on believing in Jesus ; and that the 
Apostles never dispensed. It was the miraculous gift 
of the Holy Spirit which was thus communicated; the 
speaking with different tongues ; and those extraordi- 
nary qualifications which were necessary for the 
preaching of the gospel." Neander : "Peter called 
upon them to repent of their sins, to believe in Jesus 
as the Messiah, who could impart to them forgiveness 
of sins and freedom from sin, — in this faith to be bap- 
tized; then would the divine power of faith be mani- 
fested in them, as it had already been in the commu- 
nity of believers ; they would receive the same gift of 
the Holy Spirit." — Planting and Training of the 
Christian Church, p. 19 ; so Kuinoel, et. ah 

4. That baptism only figuratively saves is certain, 
from the facts, that baptism baptizes into the Church 
and that those baptized into the Church, on the day of 
Pentecost, were saved before they were added to the 



402 



THE BIBLE AGAINST 



Church. In Acts 2 :47, we read : ' 'The Lord added 
to them day by day the saved." Sozomenous — aco^- 
of/evoos is accusative, present participle. Being pre- 
ceded by the article robe— tous it is here a substantive 
— a noun. Winer: ' ' The present participle, with the 
article, is often used substantively, and then, as a 
noun, excludes all time So when it is accom- 
panied by the accusative of the object or other ad- 
juncts." — JVetv Testament Gram., p. 353. In ren- 
dering sozomenous "should be saved" the Common 
Version overlooked the article, and the rale, making it 
a noun. Besides, in the New Testament, the present 
participle is rarely used for the future. — Winer p. 
340. In rendering sozomenous a (historical) parti- 
ciple of time the Revised Version overlooked this 
rule. The American revisers of the New Version say : 
"For those that 'were being saved,' read 'those that 
were saved,' with the text in the margin." The text 
does not contradict this, but makes it say those who, 
at the time, "were being saved, 19 that is, those whom 
the Gospel had saved as it was doing its work. The only 
true rendering is "the saved." The Bible Union's 
rendering "are saved" is, in sense correct, though not 
verbally correct. Adam Clarke : "Those who were 

saved in opposition to those who were lost." 

— in I. Wetstein, "the saved." Hackett, "already 
secured their salvation." So Bloomfield : "If we 
keep close to the proprietas linguae .... we cannot 
translate otherwise than 'the saved' 'those who were 
saved,' as the expression is rendered by Doddridge and 
Mr. Wesley, which is also supported by the authority 
of thePesch. Syr. Ver."— in I. Thus "the saved" 
and not the children of Satan, as Campbellites claim 
— see last chapter — were baptized. As no one who 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 403 

has not "remission" is saved, that only those who had 
remission were baptized, on Pentecost, is beyond a 
reasonable doubt. 

Thus, except when viewed through Mr. Campbell's 
Popish glasses — which he received from Rome through 
the Presbyterian Church, — from whatever standpoint 
we may view Acts 2 : 38, etc. , it is certain that the Jerusa- 
lem Church was a Baptist Church — baptizing only "the 
saved*" Acts 2:38, independently of the arguments 
on faith and the symbolism of baptism, proves that 
baptism is a symbolical institution, for only the 
saved. 

II. Other Objections. 
1. It is claimed, by Campbellites, that as Corne- 
lius was baptized, baptism was telling him "whereby 
thou shalt be saved and thy house." Acts 11 :14. But 
I reply, (a), the next two verses, compared with 
chapter 10:44-47, show that they were saved before 
baptism ; and chap. 10 :43, clearly says this salvation 
was by faith. Mr. Hand, boldly, denies that they were 
saved before baptism. — " Text Book Exposed "p. 240. 
But Peter mentions in Acts 11:17, 18, and 10:47, 
their having received the Holy Ghost as proof that 
they already had "repentance unto life.'" — See Adam 
Clarke, on Acts 11:17, 18, Scott, Bengel, Matt. 
Henry, DeWette, Meyer, Hackett, et al. — all of whom 
agree, in Matt. Henry's language, that this is "spirit- 
ual life .... a holy, heavenly and divine life." So 
Olshausen, Bloomfield, Doddridge, Meyer, Barnes. 
Their magnifying and praising God—in v. 46— was, in 
fact, proof of their salvation and was a "Christian 
experience." (b) Chapter 10:43, is the direction to 
Cornelius as to how to be saved. Thereupon, they 
believe and are saved. The remainder of the chap- 



404 



THE BIBLE AGAINST 



ter is what next to do after being saved, (c) Inde- 
pendent of other plain proofs against baptism here 
saving, the whole Bible, on "faith only" and bap- 
tism only a figure, forbids inferring that Cornelius was 
directed to be baptized to be saved. 

Objection 2. 
4 6 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved" 
proves that baptism literally saves. — Mark 16 :16.f 
But in reply to this inference, I ask, (a), how 
dare you, in view of the other Scriptures to 
the contrary, from one Scripture, infer the 
Popish doctrine, 6 'the Gospel in water," — Alexan- 
der Campbell's words — until }^ou have taken prayerful 
pains to see if that passage will not admit of a differ- 
ent sense? (b) The Campbellite forgets that it does 
not read, 6 'he that disbelieveth" and is not baptized 
shall be damned ; but "he that disbelieveth shall be 
condemned." Now, Moses E. Lard represents 
Campbellism, when he says, of belief and baptism, 
these words "appoint them jointly and make them of 
equal value." — What Baptism Is For, JVo.2,p. 6. 
(My italics.) Of repentance, faith and baptism he 
says, each is held to be equally necessary to salvation : 
"This, with us is an item of faith, held as we hold 
the resurrection of the dead." — Idem p. 1. If bap- 
tism is necessary, at all, to salvation, why insert it 
in connection with "saved" and omit it in connection 
with "condemned" 't This, at once, raises a doubt 
about baptism as essential to salvation ; for, if essen- 

t Of course, I know that the S. V. MSS.— the two best MSS.— 
omit the passage. u The passage is rejected by the majority of 
modern critics on the testimony of these two MSS. and of old 
writers on internal evidence and diction. — Smith's Bib. Die. 
Vol 2, p J 790. So the Revised Version inserts it as doubtful. 
Whether or not genuine, it affords no support to Campbellism. 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 



405 



tially related to salvation, its omission must, though 
every other condition were fulfilled, insure damnation. 
Thus, God plainly said that the sinner "shall be cut 
off." — Gen. 17:14. (c) Baptism is inserted in con- 
nection with being saved, because it sustains a very 
important connection to being saved. As a symbol of 
being saved — as we have seen — baptism sustains, if 
possible, a closer and more important connection with 
being saved, than does the Supper. It is the symbol- 
ical expression and confession of salvation. Thus, it 
is very naturally connected with salvation. But it 
sustains and can sustain no relation, whatever, to 
damnation. Nowhere, in the Bible, is baptism hinted 
as having any connection, whether real or symbolic, 
with damnation. Stier, though believing in water sal- 
vation, sees this, and says, upon the passage : "It is 
not said he that is not baptized shall be condemned. 
Baptized or not, even if baptized the unbelieving shall 
be condemned. And this must lead us to decide that in 
the former clause the same hold good : the believer shall 
be saved, even though he be not baptized. All anxious 
misunderstanding of the inseparable conjunction of 
baptism, is removed by the plain sequel of the clause 
—but he that believeth not, and only he, shall be con- 
demned." — Words of Jesus , Vol. 8, p. 364. 01- 
shausen, another believer in baptismal regeneration, 
concedes that the omission of baptism from the last 
half of the verse " serve to indicate that the internal 
process of regeneration as necessary to salvation, but 
that in certain cases the external ordinance of baptism 
can be dispensed with." — in I. (d) Baptism is in- 
serted in connection with being saved, because its rela- 
tion and importance to faith make it a test of whether 
we are saved. 



406 



THE BIBLE AGAINST 



(e) There are two senses in which we are literally 
' 6 saved." The first is, we are saved when we be- 
lieve. See John 3 : 15, 16 ; 1 Cor. 1 : 18, 21 ; 2 Cor. 
2 : 15 ; Eph. 2:5, 8. The first sense includes all that 
makes a Christian. We are then called saved because 
of Philip. 1 : 6. The second is, in our final deliv- 
erance. — Mark 13: 13; 1 Cor. 3: 15. This sense of 
salvation is used in reference to works being the test of 
the true Christian — the gold — as only the gold endures 
the fire. — 1 Peter 1 : 7. In this sense obedience tests, 
but does not procure salvation. (See next point.) 

(1) In Luke 18 : 18-24, we read of a young man who 
thought himself saved. Jesus, not because "sell all 
thou hast" and give to the poor, is a condition of re- 
mission and of salvation, but because the spirit of obedi- 
ence is a test of conversion, to test him, and that he 
might thereby test himself, commanded him to make 
that sacrifice. As well can a sect make the test, put 
to this young man, a literal condition of salvation, as 
to make baptism its condition. Yea, more so; for he 
was commanded to do so that he might have treasure 
in heaven ; but nowhere are we commanded to be bap- 
tized that we may literally, thereby, possess heaven. 

(2) In the same Chapter we are told : "There is no 
man that hath left house or wife, or brethren, or par- 
ents, or children for the kingdom of God's sake, who 
shall not receive manifold in this time, and in the 
world to come eternal life," — v. 29. This teaches we 
must leave all to be saved, as plainly as any passage 
teaches baptismal salvation — plainer, for this is literal. 
Why not, then, build another sect upon it ? Simply 
because we know that it is to be taken when circum- 
stances place the great sacrifice before us, as but a test 
of conversion. Just as Abraham's offering Isaac was 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 



407 



not a means or condition of conversion, but its test. 
See Sections 2 and 3 of this Chapter on Abraham's 
justification. Jesus does not say that doing His com- 
mandments makes us Christians. But he does say it 
proves us Christians: "If ye love me ye will keep 
my commandments." — John 14 : 15. "For this is the 
love of God, that we keep His commandments." — 1 
John 5 : 3. But suppose a man has not been misled, 
but knows these commandments and will not obey ? 
Can he find salvation without keeping these command- 
ments ? The answer is, according to the Scriptures, 
instead of finding salvation by keeping His command- 
ments, they are kept because salvation has been found, 
as a proof of possessing salvation. On this, John is 
very plain: "And hereby we know Him, if we keep 
His commandments. He that saith I know Him" — 
i. e., professes that he is saved and will not obey — 
"and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and 
the truth is not in him" — i. e., has never been con- 
verted.— 1 John 2:3,4. 

Barnes' comments on Mark 16 : 16 : "It is worthy 
of remark that Jesus has made baptism of so much Im- 
portance. He did not say, indeed, that a man could 
not be saved without baptism, but He strongly im- 
plied that where this is neglected, knowing it to be a 
command of the Savior, it endangers the salvation of 
the soul. * Faith and baptism are the conditions of a 
Christian life : the one the beginning of piety in the 
soul, the other of its manifestation before men, as a 
profession of religion. And every man endangers his 
interests by being ashamed of Christ before men." — 
In G. W. Clarke's Commentary. Stier : "Indeed in 
respect to those who already believe, and who may re- 
ceive baptism, this obligation of obedience and con- 



408 



THE BIBLE AGAINST 



fession remains, and it is consequently a test of their 
faith:'— Words of Jesus, Vol. 8, p. 364. Alford : 
6 ' Belief and disbelief are in this verse the great lead- 
ing subjects, and pisteusas on this account must stand 
first." — in I. Bengel : "The want of baptism does not 
condemn unless it be through unbelief that baptism is 
refused." — in I. Bengel refers to Gen. 17 : 14, where 
it is said : ' 'And the uncircumcised male who is not cir- 
cumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cutoff" — 
as confirming the position that baptism is not, by 
this passage, made necessary to salvation; for, 
while there cut off is expressly the penalty for not 
being circumcised, here there is no penalty, what- 
ever, for not being baptized. "The penalty of neg- 
lecting circumcision is more expressly indicated" 
there. This is just as Mr. Spurgeon says of con- 
tributing to Foreign missions. Replying to the 
question: "Will the heathen be saved without the 
gospel," he retorts: "Better ask, will we be saved if 
we do not send it to them." Meaning, not that con- 
tributions, etc., to Foreign missions, are conditions of 
pardon, salvation ; but that they are tests of pardon 
and salvation. Read, again, here, master the Sections 
2 and "(3)" of this Chapter on Abraham's justifica- 
tion by faith, and his justification by works. Jesus 
connected baptism with the first clause of Mark 16 : 
16, because it is connected with salvation as its crys- 
talizing, expressive symbol, as its confession, at the 
very beginning of the outward Christian life, and as a 
test of its being possessed by him who professes to be 
saved ; and He omitted it from the last clause because 
it has no relation, whatever, to damnation. Therefore, 
we must not only decide that Mark 16 : 16, gives no 
support to Campbellisra, but, that, by the positions 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 



409 



it assigns to faith and 6 to baptism, it, alone, proves 
that, in the Great Day, Campbellism, — 

" Like the baseless fabric of a vision, 

shall dissolve, 

And leave not a track behind." 

Objection 3. 
" John 3:5, says: 'Except a man be born of water 
and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of 
God.' " In reply, (a), to make this teach Campbell- 
ism is to make it contradict the whole Bible. There- 
fore, we ought to prayerfully see whether it will not 
admit of the teaching of the other Scriptures, (ft) If 
you say, "because water is placed first it teaches that 
baptism comes first," I ask you to reconcile this with 
your sincerity, in claiyning to teach that men must 
repent, believe, etc., before baptism. Campbellism 
teaches just what your objection implies; but, as some 
Campbellites, when pressed, deny their teaching, I 
leave them to crack this nut. (c) On the symbolism 
of baptism we have seen what born of water means. 
See Section 4 and "(4)," of this chapter, where 
this passage is made plain. It symbolically represents 
our being born from the dead, (d) In answer to why 
water here appears before the birth of the Spirit, I 
reply : The Pharisees and the lawyers treated John's 
baptism with contempt. — Luke 7 :30. Nicodemus, 
belonging to this class, had rejected John's teaching, 
was now ignoring John and his baptism, by coming to 
Jesus, directly. To rebuke this insult to the Sender 
of John, Jesus, to emphasize John's baptism, — "born 
of water"— mentions it first. Nicodemus, knowing of 
John's baptism, doubtless, saw the point. Nicodemus, 
knowing the rule, that, except for emphasis and im- 
portance of ideas, the words of a sentence are arranged 



410 



THE BIBLE AGAINST 



according to their relation to each other. — See Wi- 
ner 's Gram., JST. T.,p. 546, — and knowing, from the 
Old Testament, that ceremonies are but symbols, un- 
derstood that Jesus reversed the order of the words 
to teach him that the proud, contemptuous spirit, to- 
wards John and his baptism, was against God, and 
indicated such wickedness of heart, that, while he en- 
tertained it, there was no hope for him. Stier and 
Bengel, though believing in baptismal regeneration, 
acknowledge this, as the reason for water appearing 
out of its regular position. — Words of Jesus, Vol. 4, 
p. 394 ; Bengel in I. Tholuck, Lucke and Neander : 
"The w r atermay have already been known to Nicode- 
mus, from the baptism of John, as a symbol of the 
purification of the inner man." — Tholuck inl.; Bengel 
et al. Bloomfield: "Figuratively, a complete altera- 
tion and reformation. Baptism as the symbol and 
pledge of it." — in I. "The entire change of heart 
and purification of mind typified by the ceremony of 
baptism." — Idem, in I. Confirming this is the fact 
that avwdsv rendered again means only above. It never 
means again. Its meaning is "top," "first," "above." 
In v. 31, in chapter 19:11; James 1:17; 3:15,17, 
it is rendered "above." Besides nahv is the word for 
again. As baptism is not "from above" the real 
birth is not baptism. The Spirit — Grace only— is from 
"above." Hence, baptism can be only symbolical of 
the change from "above." (e) The kingdom signifies 
the Church, which begins on earth and extends into 
the eternity of eternities — e*c robe olcovac, za>v alcovtov. 
See first of Chapter IX for what the kingdom is. 

(f) In the fact that water is not mentioned or im- 
plied in verses 5 and 6, is very strong evidence that 
baptism is only thrown in here as symbolical, (g) 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 



411 



John, having demanded proof of regeneration and 
new life before baptism, settles the question, that, by 
alluding to his baptism, Jesus meant for us to under- 
stand it as a symbolical birth. On John's demand, see 
Section 4 and II, of Chapter X, of this book. I 
conclude this chapter by reminding the reader that I 
have, now, noticed all the points on which Campbellites 
place much reliance, to establish— in the language of 
Alexander Campbell — "Christian immersion is the 
Gospel in water." — Christian Baptist, p. 417. 



412 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION 



CHAPTER XIV. 

SELF-CONDEMNING INCONSISTENCIES AND ABSURDITIES 
OF THE CAMPBELLITE BAPTISMAL REGENER- 
ATION PLAN OF SALVATION. 

According to the Common Version, Solomon said : 
"The legs of the lame are not equal." — Prov 26 :7. 

1. Campbellism is lame, in trying to hold to a plan 
of salvation by grace only, 4 'apart from works," and at 
the same time, relying on works — on baptism to save. 

2. Campbellism is lame, in that it presents God as 
whimsical, changeable, having one plan of salvation 
for him who will conform to it and another for him who 
will not. Thus, to the man who believes baptism will 
save him, with Campbellites, it is his only hope. To him 
who does not submit to baptism, there is a hope 
Only some of the Campbellites are subject to this 
charge ; as many of them believe there is no hope for 
any one who dies without baptism. Those who be- 
lieve there is no hope for the unimmersed are consist- 
ent. 

3. But nearly all Campbellites are subject to the 
charge, that they hold God as having one plan of sal- 
vation for one class and another for another, in that 
they concede that Baptist baptism is valid. Thus, 
Alexander Campbell says : ' 'Knowing that the efficacy 
of this blood is to be communicated to our consciences 
in the way which God has pleased to appoint, we 'stag- 
ger not at the promise of God' but flee to the sacred 



INCONSISTENCIES AND ABSURDITIES. 



413 



ordinance which brings the blood of Jesus in contact 
with our consciences. Without knotting and believing 
this, immersion is as empty as a blasted nut. The 
shell is there but the kernel is wanting." — Christian 
Baptist, p. 521 . As Baptists heartily repudiate bap- 
tismal regeneration, their baptisms are never adminis- 
tered to regenerate, cleanse the conscience. Hence, 
though immersed, Baptists, inasmuch as they do not 
baptize to save, are destined to hell, unless converted 
to Campbellism. Yet, as a rule, Campbellites receive, 
without re-baptism, every one they can seduce from the 
Baptists ! Afew Campbellites see this fatal inconsistency. 
Thus the " Christian " Jlessengersajs : "Baptism with 
its Scriptural connection is for remission of past sins. 
Have the Baptists all its Scriptural connections? To 
believe on Jesus Christ is to believe on his teachings. 
Do Baptists believe on his teachings? Do they believe 
baptism is for the remission of sins? Do they believe 

the Gospel? If so, they are Christians, and 

there is not much difference, between us. . . . Re- 
ceiving them without re-baptism is admitting that they 
are Christians — that their sins are all remitted, or that 
baptism is not essential to salvation. If they are right, 
we are wrong. If we are right, they are wrong. If 
they are right, we ought not to contend that they are 
wrong — 'consistency is a jewel.' Some of our leading 
brethren will not brother them anyway. Now for the 
test. The Baptists' sins are remitted, or they are not 
remitted. If their sins are remitted then they are 
right. If their sins have never been remitted then 
they should submit to re-baptism. They are either 
out of Christ or in Christ. If they are in Christ let 
us bid them God-speed ; they are right. If they are 
out of Christ then they should be baptized into Christ. 



414 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION 



But says one, when his faith gets right that makes his 
baptism right; but that is putting the cart before the 
horse . . . „ . Then when his faith gets right he 
should be baptized, or re-baptized, if you please." — 
Quoted in Western Recorder. The Old Path Guide, 
of Sept. 19, 1884, (Louisville), says: 6 'Now if the 
immersed did not become the children of God token im- 
mersed, their immersion is worthless." — -In Am. Bap- 
tist Flag. These Campbellites reason too well for their 
own cause, as so many of their brethren will not swallow 
the logical consequences of their own doctrine. Thus, 
in one breath, Campbellites declare heaven's law is to 
be baptized that you may be regenerated, pardoned, 
etc. ; in the next, they declare Baptists, who were 
baptized on a loholly different law — because they are 
regenerated, pardoned, etc. — saved. If the design of 
baptism is not essential to its validity, to be baptized 
to please the devil would be valid baptism. If Camp- 
bellism is true, why recognize the Baptist position 
true, by receiving Baptist baptism? 

4. If Campbellism is true, all Baptists will be lost 
eternally. Why? Simply because Baptists have not 
been baptized to be saved, but because they are saved. 
Yet, Campbellites, as a rule, will not dare swallow this 
conclusion of their own doctrine. 

5. If Campbellism is true, the father and founder 
of the Campbellite Church and many of the leading 
Campbellite preachers are in perdition. Why? Be- 
cause they had been baptized with Baptist baptism and 
were not re-baptized. Yet, Campbellites here flee from 
their own doctrine. 

6. If Campbellism is true, nearly all the Campbell- 
ites will be lost. Why? Because Campbellite baptisms 
all, or nearly all, have come from men who have been 



INCONSISTENCIES AND ABSURDITIES. 415 



baptized by men with other than Campbellite baptism. 
I mean that nearly all the first Campbellite preachers 
had Baptist baptism — in the sense that they were bap- 
tized on a profession that they were already saved. How 
can a man baptize, who himself, has never beenScript- 
urally baptized? 

7. Campbellites teach that it is right to commune 
with children of Satan. According to their position, 
on the action of baptism, Pedo-baptists are yet out of 
the kingdom, unregenerate and unpardoned, and are 
children of Satan. So of Baptists, according to the 
Campbellite position on the design of baptism. Yet, 
Campbellites teach that they should commune with 
both Baptists and Pedo-baptists ! 

8. When pressed, many Campbellites dare not affirm 
the consequences of their own position. While some 
of them are sufficiently candid to avow the consequen- 
ces of their doctrine, that only Campbellites will be 
saved — that the unbaptized will be lost —most Camp- 
bellites are like the Jews, when Jesus asked them: 
' 'The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven 
or from men?" — (Matt. 21-25) — they say "we know 
not." Some time ago, some one asked the Old Path 
Guide: "If baptism is for the remission of sins, 
what will you do with the man who is a penitent be- 
liever, intends to be baptized, is on the road to the 
water when a limb falls on him and kills him. Will 
he be lost?" To this the paper, like the Jews, as re- 
gards John's baptism, and with the same number of 
reasons, answered: "We refuse to give our opinion, 
for two reasons: 1. It cannot do the dead penitent 
believer any good. 2. It may do the living harm . . 

. . . We refuse to give an opinion where no good, 
but possible evil can result." 

Now, if the question were put to a Baptist, 



416 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION 



what has become of a man who intended to be- 
lieve, and was killed before believing, the Bap- 
tist would, unhesitatingly say: He is lost, as is ev- 
ery sane person, old enough to believe who dies 
without believing. The Baptist would sustain his 
answer by our Savior's words, " he that disbelieveth 
shall be condemned." — Mark 16: 16. But, where, 
oh ! where ! ! would the Campbellite find, he that 
is not baptized shall be condemned ? To the 
answer of the Old Path Guide, the Baptist Glean- 
er well replies: "The Old Path Guide further states 
that when such a case occurs, there will be time 
enough to consider it. But a like case has occurred. 
Some two years ago, a lady joined at a monthly meet- 
ing, made 'the good confession,' and was ready to be 
baptized. But the preacher being unwell, and the 
weather being inclement, the baptism was postponed 
on account of the preacher. Before his return the 
lady died, and the 0. P. Guide had the case up. Was 
baptism for the remission of her sins? If we mistake 
not, 'can't tell was the answer. Sha'n't tell, is the 
answer now. It was thus with the opposers of the 
gospel in the beginning. 'The baptism of John was it 
from heaven or of men?' Can't tell was the answer. 
Thus error when cornered, bites and devours itself. 
Let it be cornered." The very reason that she was 
lost — according to Campbellism, without baptism — was 
the reason why the living should be warned and ben- 
efited by a lesson from her — to never put off for a 
moment, on any account, baptism — "seek first the 
kingdom," etc. 

9. Campbellism teaches that God has different 
plans of salvation. Plan first, — for those who lived 
before John's time. Plan second. — for those who 



INCONSISTENCIES AND ABSURDITIES. 



417 



lived between John's preaching and Pentecost. Plan 
third, — for those who since Pentecost believe baptism 
literally saves — that it is so designed. Plan fourth, — 
for those who believe it is a profession of having been 
saved. Plan fifth, — for the Rantist who rejects bap- 
tism for rantism. Of course, plans " fourth" and 
"fifth" are chargeable to only the Campbellites who 
believe that Baptists and Rantists will be saved. The 
editor of the "Christian" Standard, in replying 
to the Journal and Messenger's faithfully stating 
the Scriptural position, — "he that disbelieveth shall 
be condemned" — promulgates, impliedly, a sixth 
plan of salvation, which may save all. He says : 
"The editor of the Journal and Messenger has 
committed himself to the doctrine of the eternal 
damnation of all who do not believe in the Lord 
Jesus Christ. He does not say simply that they 
may not be saved, or that he does not know what will 
become of those who in every nation fear God and 
work righteousness." The case alluded to, by Mr. 
Errett, has no such meaning as he puts into it. One 
would think the Campbellite ways of salvation are as 
accommodating as Pedo-rantist notions with regard to 
baptism. The man who can find no place in one of 
six plans of salvation, certainly must be a hopeless 
case, indeed. But these plans of salvation represent 
God as the dog's master. He boasted of his dog's obe- 
dience. To show his friend the dog's obedience, he 
commanded him to "go out," at which the dog arose, 
went under the bed. Seeing him going under the bed, 
the master saved the dog's reputation for obedience by 
adding — "or under the bed." So Campbellites get 

the people into salvation in one way — or in 

one of the six ! ! That plan of salvation which is so 



418 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION 



fickle and changeable must impress every reasoning 
person as a fatal delusion. 

10. Campbellism has one plan of pardon for the 
Christian; another for the non-Christian. The Christ- 
ian is saved without baptism; the sinner by baptism. 
Now, sin is sin. Its pardon must be based on the 
eternal, unchangeable principles of the divine govern- 
ment. Under no dispensation has God had one plan 
to pardon the sins of His people, and another to par- 
don others. But one law of pardon to the penitent, 
whether professor or non-professor — by faith, (a) 
David's pardon, after being a professor, is presented 
by the Apostle as the plan of pardon for those who 
never were pardoned. See Eom. 4 : 12, especially vs. 
5. 6, 1. (6) The Ephesian Christians were exhorted 
to 4 'Remember whence thou art fallen and repent, and 
do the first works." — Rev. 2:5. This means repent, 
and implies faith. First works imply the works to be 
done after having been saved — warmth, zeal of newly 
saved persons, which they were to do when they had 
repented. — Matt. Henry, et. al. Everywhere, in the 
Scriptures, the non-professor is exhorted to repent, 
(c) "Being justified by faith, let us have peace 
through our Lord Jesus Christ; through whom also 
we have our access through faith into this grace, 
wherein we stand." — Rom. 5 : 1, 2. First, this being 
a conclusion of Chapter 4, is necessarily the plan of 
pardon for all sin, — whether by professor or non-pro- 
fessor. Second, it says, we were — as sinners — justi- 
fied by faith, and that by that faith we stand — remain 
Christians. Dikaiothentees — ocxaaodevrr^ — is first 
aorist — having been justified. Hesteekamen — karrjxa- 
ff.ev is the perfect tense. As the perfect is joined to 
the aorist to denote that the action of the aorist is 



INCONSISTENCIES AND ABSURDITIES. 419 



continued — Winer's JST. T. Gram., p. 272 — the sense 
is, having been justified by the faith, the action and 
agent of which continues throughout the Christian life, 
— our salvation continues as it was conferred, — by 
faith. Hesteekamen here means to remain, or be estab- 
lished. — Ambrose, Theophylact, Grotius, Michaelis, 
et. al. Tholuck : "Through the Savior, we have free 
access to the everlasting justification, under the econo- 
my of which we are at present placed, so that however 
often we fall, we may yet in faith hold fast the assur- 
ance that Christ will accomplish for us the work of our 
justification." — in I.; so Adam Clarke, Matt. Henry, 
et. al. (d) "For therein" — in the gospel — "is revealed 
a righteousness of God by faith unto faith ; as it 
is written, But the righteous shall live by faith." 
— Romans 1 : 17, eh pisteos eis pistin — ix Tiiareco^ 
ec<: iztGTtv — literally, by or out of faith into faith. 
Schaff : "Assimilation by faith should be contin- 
ually renewed." Godet : "The instrument by which 
each individual must personally appropriate such a 

righteousness is likewise faith Paul is 

not concerned with the person appropriating, but 

solely with the instrument of appropriation 

In this righteousness faith, is everything, absolute- 
ly everything; in essence it is iaith itself; and 
each one appropriates it by faith," — in I. That is, 
our righteousness came by or out of faith, and contin- 
ues into more and more faith,— bringing pardon, 
continuing pardon, etc., until perfection in the eternal 
world. "Faith, says Paul, continues to be faith ; faith 
is all in all [lit. the prow and stern], in the case of 
Jews and Gentiles; in the case of Paul, also, even up 
to its final consummation,— Phil, 3: 7-12." The just 



420 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION 



"live by faith," bringing pardon; they continue thus 
to live. 

But I cannot continue this argument. What I have 
said, above, clearly proves that there is but one plan 
of pardon for both the professor and the non-profes- 
sor. Moreover, every argument, which I have used to 
prove that the sinner is saved by faith, is equally appli- 
cable to this point. Mr. Hand's attempt to find "the 
law of forgiveness of sins committed after baptism," 
from the case of Simon the sorcerer, first, begs the 
whole question, by assuming that he had been par- 
doned by baptism. It equally begs the question by 
assuming that he was ever pardoned at all. — Text Book 
Exposed, p. 236. 

As Baumgarten remarks : "This seducer of the Sa- 
maritans had received only a superficial impression 
. . . and the same character of superficiality still seems 
to have remained in him, even after Peter with such 
earnest moving words had called on him to awake out of 
his deep sleep of perversity and ignorance." — Apost. 
Hist. , vol. I, pp. 1 79, 180. Bengel, Olshausen, Mean- 
der, Meyer, Matt. Henry, Doddridge, Bloomfield, 
Barnes, Scott, Smith's Bib. Die, vol. 4, p. 3046 etc., 
all understand Simon to have never been a Christian. 
Thus, Neander : "But Simon was naturally incapable 
of understanding these manifestations ; he saw in all 
of them the workings of magical forms and charms, 
a magic differing not in nature, but only in degree 
from what he practiced himself. Hence, he imagined 
that the Apostles might communicate these magical 
powers to him also . . . and with this view he offered 
them money. Peter spurned this proposal with ab- 
horrence, and now first saw in its true light the real 
character of Simon, who in joining himself to believ- 



INCONSISTENCIES AND ABSURDITIES. 



421 



ers had pretended to be what he was not ." — Planting 
and Training of the Christian Church, p. 62. (My 
italics*). His being characterized as "in the gall of 
bitterness and in the bond off iniquity" indicates a 
most depraved and desperate character. — Acts 8: 23. 
Peter exhorted: "Repent of this thy wickedness," 
because it was so heinous that it was the manifesta- 
tion of the wretch's character. Besides if he could be 
awakened, this act should awaken him. In characteriz- 
ing him to be "in the £all of bitterness and in the 
bond of iniquity," Peter removes all grounds of doubt, 
as to his being; one of the blackest characters. From 
him comes the significant term simony. Hence, Scott 
well comments : "Nothing can be more evident than 
that the apostle exhorted an unconverted sinner to re- 
pentance and prayer." — in I. Luke records him as 
believing, only from the impression and report made 
when he united with the Church — just as reports are 
now made. And records his sin and its exposure and 
denunciation, and bis characterization by the apostle, 
to show that he was a base hypocrite. 

Verse 13 shows him interested in only the "signs" 
and "miracles." But, what must we think of the 
blindness and delusion of men who can read Acts 8 
and then write as does Mr. Hand: "But Peter told 
him to repent of this wickedness, just this one, that 

t The allusion of Peter is to Deut. 29 :18, 19. T\?h, there 
rendered "wormwood"' means u warmwood, it was apparently as 
a noxious, poisonous plant." — Ges. 1 Lex. ^xi, rendered "gall," 
* is the name of a poisonous plant, of a bitter taste. . . . poison 
in general, even of asps." — Ges.' Lex. Hackett: " The gall of 
noxious reptiles was considered the source of their venom .... 
an impressive metaphor to the malice of moral corruption . . . 
malignant, aggravated depravity, ... In the bond of iniquity — 
not only wicked in principle, but confirmed in the habit of sin, 
bound to it as with a chain.' ' — inl. 



422 



BAPTISMAL REGENERATION 



was all that stood against him — . . . one thought of 
the heart — one sin was all ! /" — Text Book Exposed, />. 
235. So Benjamin Franklin. — fisher-Franklin De- 
bate, p. 233. Is there not need that Campbellism 
should be exposed when it so blinds its teachers that 
they can thus regard one of the most depraved wretch- 
es in Bible History ? The Campbellite talk about 
" one law of pardon for the alien; another for the 
member of the kingdom," is begging the question; 
contradicting the plain Word of God; and is opposed 
to the great principles of the government of God, 
which demand faith, of every penitent one as the only 
condition of pardon for either professor or non-pro- 
fessor. Besides, if it were admitted, since the Camp- 
bellites believe that a Christian can fall away from 
grace, so far as not to be a child of God, and after 
that be reclaimed, it will not answer for reclaiming 
those whom they say can be saved after having fallen 
away. Why ? Simply because such have fallen from 
the state of children of God, members of the kingdom 
— have become "aliens" again. If they ever again 
become children of God, members of the kingdom, as 
they are "aliens," they must be saved by the law that 
saves aliens. All are under the universal, moral gov- 
ernment of God. To that they are bound by the same 
great, unchangeable and universal principles. If 
Drummond has, prominently, brought before us the 
great truth, that God governs the natural world by the 
same great principles, who should say that He does 
not even govern the spiritual by universal and un- 
changeable principles ! Beautiful, and as true and as 
applicable here as beautiful, are the words of the great 
Hooker : "Of law there can be no less acknowledged, 
than her seat is in the bosom of God, her voice the 



INCONSISTENCIES AND ABSURDITIES. 



423 



harmony of the world ; all things in heaven and earth 
do her homage, the very least as feeling her care and 
the greatest as not exempted from her power; both 
angels and men and creatures of what condition soever, 
though each in different sort and manner, yet all with 
uniform consent, admiring her as the mother of their 
peace and joy." — Heel. Pol., p. 106. 

Campbellism and the whole Popish family, accord- 
ing to consistency , should baptize their members every 
time they sin. And if baptism is necessary to remis- 
sion, their members, preachers and all, will be lost, be- 
yond a doubt, if they do not do this. Soon after 
baptismal regeneration had been originated, its adher- 
ents realized this. As it was impossible to be always 
baptizing the same person they delayed baptism till 
late in life, so as to make it save them for as near the 
whole life as possible. Schaff : "The effect of bap- 
tism was thought to extend only to the sins committed 
before receiving it. Hence the frequent postponement 

of the sacrament They preferred the risk of 

dying unbaptized to that of forfeiting forever the bap- 
tismal grace."— Hist. Vhr. Ch., Vol. l,p. 396— old 
edition; GuericJces' Ch. Hist., Vol. 1, p. 301 ; Kurtz' 
Ch. Hist., Vol. 1, p. 227 ; Waddington's Ch. Hist, 
p. 54. To meet the difficulty they originated kfi the 
sacrament of penance!" Says Schaff : "Butthenthe 
question arose how the forgiveness of sins committed 
after baptism could be obtained? This is the starting 
point of the doctrine of the sacrament of penance. 
Tertullian and Cyprian were the first to suggest that 
satisfaction must be made for sins by self-imposed pen- 
itential exercises and good works." — Ch. Hist., Vol. 
1, p. 396. Campbellites are not so consistent. For 
though with them baptism is the great spiritual pan- 



424 



CAMPBLELISM AGAINST THE 



acea they neither put it off, to late in life, nor re-bap- 
tize for every fall, nor do they have any penance. 

The self-condemning inconsistencies and absurdities 
of the Campbellite-baptismal regeneration plan of sal- 
vation, prove the Campbellite Church, in its fundamen- 
tal claim, false. 



CHAPTEE XV. 

CAMPBELLISM UPON THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 
IN REGENERATION, BEARING WITNESS, ETC., 
AND SCOFFING AT PRAYER FOR THE 
SPIRIT TO CONVERT MEN. 

That Campbellism claims to believe in the operation 
of the Spirit, in saving men, is true. That they think 
they do, I will not deny. That some among them 
are orthodox on the subject, I do not deny. But, who- 
ever, among them, is "orthodox," is, while among 
them, not one of them. By the personal operation 
of the Spirit, orthodox people mean that in person, in 
a manner above our comprehension, the Spirit applies 
the law and the Gospel to the heart, so as to regener- 
ate, sanctify and save men. In doing this, He uses 
providences, the conscience, the Bible, and may, in 
exceptional cases, where there is no Bible known, reach 
the heart with the law and the Gospel without using 
the Bible.— Compare Eom. 18:21 with Acts 10:35. 
But with cases where the Bible is unknown we have 
nothing to do m this controversy. We are concerned 



WORK OF THE SPIRIT. 



425 



with only those cases where the law and the Gospel are 
known. 

Section L If man is not inherently and totally 
depraved and dead in sin ; if he will repent and believe 
of his own power, to speak of the Spirit regenerating, 
giving him repentance and faith, would be to speak of 
a wholly unnecessary thing. If going down into the 
water regenerates, what need of the miraculous power 
of the Spirit to 6 ' create" us anew in Christ Jesus? 
Campbellism, from its premises, logically and consist- 
ently repudiates the work of the Holy Spirit. A few 
quotations will represent Campbellism upon this sub- 
ject: 

lo B. W. Stone: "We have clearly seen the 
error, and cordially deplored the mischief of the pop- 
ular doctrine of the Spirit, that the Spirit is given to 
the sinner independently of his faith and obedience." 
— Works B. W. Stone, p. 283— by Mathes. As Mr. 
Stone makes the work of the Spirit depend on faith 
and obedience, and as the carnal mind neither believes 
nor obeys, of course the Spirit does nothing in changing 
the carnal soul. — Kom. 8 :6-8. 

2. Alexander Campbell: "All the moral power 
of God or of man is exhibited in the truth which 
they propose. Therefore we may say that if the 
light or the truth contains all the moral power 
of God, then the truth alone is all that is nec- 
essary to the conversion of men, for we have before 
argued and proved that the converting power is 
moral power."— Mill. Harb. Vol. 2, p. 397. As 
this is accepted by Mr. Hand as rightly quoted — 
Text Book Exposed p. 79 — and illustrated by Mr. 
Campbell it may be taken as his undoubted position. 
All know that no man, in person, goes with his words 



426 



CAMPBELLISM AGAINST THE 



in letters — or in any kind of messages. He is no more 
with them than if he were in the eternal world. As 
Mr. Campbell says: The Spirit accompanies the 
Word only as man's spirit accompanies his word, we 
may be certain that Mr. Campbell no more believed 
the Spirit operates on the heart than he believed a dead 
author's spirit operates on the heart of any reader or 
hearer of his words. Mr. Campbell and his followers, 
therefore, no more believe the Spirit operates on the 
sinner's heart than if He remained on the everlasting 
throne — had never been sent into the world. All that 
genuine Campbellites mean, by the Spirit converting, 
is that He converts as the letter, written by a man be- 
fore he left this world and read after he left it, may 
influence— words alone. So, after saying, 4 'whatever 
the Word does the Spirit does" — in the sense just il- 
lustrated, of course — Mr. Campbell says: ' 'The 
Spirit is not promised to any persons out of Christ." 
That Mr. Campbell means promised, in the sense help- 
ing to save, he explains in the next sentence, concern- 
ing Christians, — "Thesef it actually and powerfully 
assists in the mighty struggle for eternal life." — 
Christian System, pp. 64, 65. 

3. Moses E. Lard: "Now we reply, if Divine 
truth, when known or understood, effects not the con- 
version of the sinner, then his conversion is provided 
for by no system of religion which is Divine." — -Wil- 
liams on Campbellism, p. 183. On what Campbell- 
ites mean by the operation of the Spirit, Mr. Lard 
says: "We mean that it t operates by the truth; 
that is, that the Spirit spends on the mind of the sin- 
ner in conversion no influence except such as resides 

f If Campbellites believe the Spirit is God, in the name of rev- 
erence to God, I ask how dare they apply "it " to Him ? 



WORK OF THE SPIRIT. 



427 



in the truth as divine as of the Spirit. And we shall 
further add, that neither in quantity nor in force do we 
conceive that this influence can be increased, and the 
human will be free." — Idem, p. 82. (My italics.) 
In other words, Mr. Lard means that just as a dead 
man's spirit is in the words which he wrote while liv- 
ing, so that the letter can be given no more nor less 
than its inherent power, so the Spirit is in the Bible — 
in fact only figuratively — not at all. f 

4. Tc M. Harris, State Evangelist, of Ga., in a 
sermon which was preached in the Campbellite church, 
of Augusta, Ga., Feb. 20, 1876, as quoted by D. Sha- 
ver, D. D., in the Tex. Baptist Herald, said: "As 
Christ was sent to the Jews, and the Apostles to the 
world, so the Spirit is sent to the Church." That 
"unconverted men are taught to pray for the Spirit, 
and to expect the Spirit to come into their hearts 
and convert them," is "without warrant in the Scrip- 
tures." To the question, "Does the Spirit do nothing 
for the world, the unconverted ?" it answers : "Yes, 
very much, indeed. As God gave His Son, and the 
Son gave His blood, so the Spirit has given to the 
world the Bible, the Word of God, which is able to make 
them wise unto salvation." All that the Spirit does 
for the world is 6 'in this way." This means that 
God, in the gift of Christ, in Christ giving His blood, 
and in the Spirit giving the Bible — that the Triune 
God has done all He designed and regarded necessary 
to save a lost world ! ! 

5. Dr. Shaver, in the same paper, quotes (these 

t The infidel practices the same trick on the word " inspira- 
tion " which Carnpbellites practice on the phrase, "operation of 
the Spirit. " Ask him: "Do you believe in the inspiration of the 
Scriptures ?" he will often, say, u yes." But he will tell you : 
u So I believe in the inspiration of poets — of all great writers." 



428 



CAMPBELLISM AGAINST THE 



quotations are from < ' documents") Z. T. Sweeney's 
sermon preached in the same church, March 12, 1876 : 
"We see clearly that the Holy Spirit was promised to 
the Apostles to guide them in their proclaiming the Gos- 
pel. . . . Referring to the missions of John, of Christ, 
of the seventy, and of the Holy Spirit, Mr. Sweeney 
then adds : "Thus four out of the five missions men- 
tioned in these four books have passed away, and 
nothing yet for the world outside of Judaism ;" so that 
"if we are not embraced in the mission of the Apos- 
tles there is nothing that does embrace us in the Liv- 
ing Oracles." Fortunately for us, the Apostles were 
"sent to all nations, down to tho ends of the world." 
Only the Apostles and preachers since them and the 
Bible ! ! Dr. Shaver, in the same paper, quotes from 
a sermon by James H. Cranston, before the Young 
Men's Christian Association, of Augusta, Apr. 9, 1876. 
A few nights before, two Presbyterian delegates to 
the Convention of Christian workers, in New York, re- 
porting their impressions of a great revival, attributed 
its cause to the great outpouring of the Spirit. To 
rebuke this, Mr. Cranston said: "The Spirit was 
poured out twice only" — but the Savior promised, if 
we would only "believe Him he would remain." In 
answer to how and when he comes, Mr. Cranston 
said: "The New Testament furnishes us with a 
definite and perspicuous plan by which sinners are 
converted and brought into the Church. 1st. The gos- 
pel must be preached. 2d. The people must believe it. 
3d. They must repent of their sins. 4th. They must 
confess with their mouth. 5th. Without delay they 
must be baptized, and then they have the promise of 
remission of sins, and the gift of the Holy Spirit, and 
the hope of eternal life." Till baptized, the Spirit does 



WORK OF THE SPIRIT. 



429 



not come near the sinner, according to Mr. Cranston. 

6. The Apostolic Times — quoted in Western Re- 
corder: "That the sword of the Spirit is the sword 
which the Spirit furnishes as, and not that he wields 
himself, has to be admitted by every scholar whose 
reputation is at stake in the interpretation of the pas- 
sage; and yet to bolster up a theological hobby, the 
Spirit is constantly represented as wielding the sword 
with his own hand, otherwise it is not effective. If in 
this the Baptists are a peculiar people, we envy them 
not their peculiarity, for it is a species of trifling with 
divine truth from which we shall pray the Lord to de- 
liver us." (My italics.) 

7. The "Christian'" Standard ridicules and bur- 
lesques the operation of the Spirit : "The resistless crea- 
tive power of the Holy Spirit must make an entirely new 
being before men can either understand or believe the 
gospel — no matter who preaches it ! Unquestionably 
the Baptists are a peculiar people. But we must say 
that of all the transcendental moonshine that has ever 
fallen on our path of inquiry this is the feeblest and 
the thinnest." — Quoted in the Journal and Meseengcr. 
Generally, Mr. Errett is, in his words, so much guarded 
as to hood-wink some who do not understand Camp- 
bellism. But in this the cat is out of the flour. 

8. J. M. Mathes, objecting to the personal work 
of the Spirit, in converting the sinner, says : "The 
rest of the congregation are passed by, at least for the 
present .... till the Holy Spirit shall come at some 
future time, and make a personal application to them 

Though Christ died .... his death can 

avail them nothing without the 'personal application.' 

It contradicts the Lord's word. It makes 

the pzrsonal application, by the Holy Spirit the power 



430 



CAMPBELLISM AGAINST THE 



of God unto salvation." — Letters to Bishop Morris, 
pp. 51-53. 

9. The Texas " Christian" is quoted by Western 
Recorder: " Spiritual regeneration, in the sectarian 
sense, only means half what regeneration means in the 
Scriptural sense . . . 'Whosoever believeth that Jesus 
is the Christ is begotten of God,' who is our Father; 
the Father begets them through the Apostles ; and the 
Apostles beget them through the gospel. Whosoever 
is baptized is born into the Church, * the mother of us 
all.' 99 This means that the Spirit completed His 
work with the death of the last Apostle. 

10. President Clark Braden : "The Holy Spirit is 
always in the truth, as our spirits are in the words we 
utter, and that He influences men by arguments and 
motives in the truth thus presented. I believe this 
power to be resident in the word and co-extensive with 
the word, and I recognize no power beyond it as noiv 
exerted. If any additional power to the word it must 
be distinct from any I recognize." — Braden-Hughey 
Deb., p. 449. "In denying that the Spirit influences 
men except through the truth, I no more deny His ex- 
istence than I deny the existence of man's spirit, when 
I say he can exert no moral influence on the spirit 
of his fellow men , except through truth or appeals to 
reason." — Idem, p. 452. Mr. Hughey asked Mr. 
Braden : "Will Mr. Braden state what he means by the 
Spirit operating through the word ? Does he mean 
that the Spirit of God operates through the word of 
God, just like his spirit operates through his words? 
I want to know what he means. I do not want to mis- 
represent him in my reply." To this Mr. Braden an- 
swers : 6 6 1 think my friend has been giving a good 
illustration. He has been arguing that there is a 



WORK OF THE SPIRIT. 



431 



personal influence ; and that is what he meant by 
it. There was no personal impact or contact with 
my spirit; and therefore, no influence without ar- 
guments." — Idem, p. 488. Eeplying to Mr. Hugh- 
ey, Mr. Braden farther says: "He asserts that 
my position teaches that the Spirit would be in the 
disciples alone, and ivhen the word was completed 
he ceased to influence men, and left the word to do 
it. Our position is, that he inspired man alone by 
direct impact, that he operated on others by the word, 
and when the word was completed, his work by direct 
impact ceased, and he remains in the word, in men 
in the word, and operates on them through the 
word." — Idem, p. 505. Again, says Mr. Braden: 
"My o pponent contends that there can be no per- 
sonal opera^ ~ of the Spirit except by direct impact. 
I am now injin^.dng you all. Is it by direct im- 
pact, or through my ivords 9 Is it not personal influ- 
ence ? If you had all been mesmerized, and I had 
usurped your reason and volition till you saw and 
thought as I do, and neither reasoned nor willed 
for yourselves, but were mere breathing machines un- 
der my power, would the influence be of a higher order 

than I now exercise by appeals to your reason 

I now exercise over you the highest influence known in 
the moral exercise, a personal influence and solely 
through my words. In like manner God has always ex- 
ercised moral power over men, such power as he exer- 
cises in conversion, through his word, by reason and 
motive. It is the only moral power that he can exer- 
cise, so long as man possesses the constitution he has 
given him." — Idem, p. 502. (My italics.) 

Section II. The consequence of this is scoffing at 
prayer for the Spirit to save men % and at true revi- 



432 



CAMPBELL ISM AGAINST THE 



vals. Turn, read "5," in this chapter. B. B, Tyler, 
one of the stars of Campbellism, sa} r s: "It is wrong 
for Christians to pray for the Holy Spirit. .... But 
this I affirm ; it is wrong because a palpable contradic- 
tion of the Word of our Divine Lord to petition God 

to pour out His Spirit upon wicked men Now 

a word about converting power. Men spend a good 
deal of time, very precious time, too, in attempting to 
induce God to pour out convicting and converting 
power. If as much time was spent in attempting to 
convert sinners as is spent in attempting to convert God, 
multitudes who are now in ignorance of the plan of 
salvation would be joyfully walking in the way that 
leads to heaven. God has given us converting power. 
The converting power is the law, the doctrine, the 

teaching, the Gospel Paulf did not seek to 

convert men by asking God to pour out His Spirit 

upon them Jesus said that the world could 

not receive his Spirit . . . and yet in the face of this 
men pray to God by the hour to pour out His Spirit 
upon the world and thus convert sinners unto God." — 
In Western Recorder. (My italics.) Hundreds can 
testify to Campbellite preachers ridiculing genuine 
revivals. For their members to attend and scoff at 
revivals is very common. In my meetings, I have 
known them to ridicule prayer for the Spirit and 
4 'leave unturned no stone" to cause sinners to think 
revivals all superstition and excitement. % In Parker 

t What a pity these Campbellites do not study the Bible more 
and Campbellism less? See Rom. 10 :1 ; Acts 1 :14; 2:1, and what 
followed, in Acts 2. 

% Just now — March, 1886 — in Dallas, Tex., an infidel meeting 
is reported, by a Dallas daily, as ridiculing the Moody-Sankey 
Dallas meeting as all excitement, denying, as do Campbellites, 
that the Spirit has anything to do with the meeting. 



WORK OF THE SPIRIT. 



433 



County, Texas, a Campbellite preacher, in one of his 
6 'sermons," threw up his hands, like as if he were 
feeling for something, and said: " Where is the Holy 
Ghost, I can't feel it?" In Tonk Valley, Texas, 
where Bro. Cunningham was "holding a meeting," the 
Campbellites crowded to the front part of the house, 
saying, "We are going to crowd the Holy Spirit outt 
of here, " and made so much confusion as to 
break up the meeting. While I have attended many 
Campbellite meetings, I can remember no one in which 
the preacher urged that their members must humble 
themselves in the dust for their sins and cry mightily 
for the increase from God. — 1 Cor. 6:7. Mr. Camp- 
bell well represents the spirit and methods of Camp- 
be 11 ism, upon this point, when he says: "Christians 
must learn that the conversion of the world is the hon- 
orable employment to which the Lord has called them ; 
and that they may have the whole honor of this great 
work, he has sent neither apostles, prophets nor angels 
to assist them since the establishment of the Church 
in the world." — Mill. Harb., new series, Vol. 1, p. 
271 — quoted on p. 287 of Text Booh on Campbell- 
ism. (My italics.) 

Section III. Oampbellism and the Holy Spirit 
operating on Christians' hearts. 

If the dinner does not need the Holy Spirit to make 
him anew surely the Christian cannot possibly need 
Him to live the Christian life. If the Word alone is 
sufficient to convert the sinner, it certainly is sufficient, 
alone, to preserve him when he is converted. If the 
Holy Spirit retired from the work of saving men, 
when He had given the Bible, He certainly does not 

t If Campbellism is not one form of the sin against the Holy 
Spirit.it is not far from being so. — Matt. 12:23-32. 



434 



CAMPJBELLISM AGAINST THE 



need to return to keep them after they have been 
saved — or converted. Consistency, therefore, de- 
mands that Campbellites deny that the Spirit has any- 
thing to do in preserving and helping Christians. 
While some Campbellites, who deny that the Spirit 
converts men, hold to the position that He preserves 
and helps them after conversion, mnny, probably the 
great majority of them, consistently, deny that the 
Spirit has anything to do in preserving and helping 
Christians. Walter S. Eussell, a leading Campbellite, 
saw that they must hold that the Spirit works on nei- 
ther the sinner nor the Christian, or that He works on 
both : — "We cannot have one theory of spiritual influ- 
ence for the Christian and another for the sinner." — 
Union With Christ, by G. W. Logan, p. 20. G. W. 
Logan, another leading Campbellite, says, 0:1 the same 
page, of Mr. Russell's statement, "he was, so far, 
right/' G. W. Logan: "Whatever God does in the 
Christian, through faith, through gospel facts believed, 
gospel truth apprehended and appropriated by the 
soul, as the food of its life, and not by immediate, super- 
natural, work according to the ordinary laws 

of thought and the inner life quite as completely as is 
his work in the conversion of sinners." "It is held" 
against the doctrine of the personal, "immediate influ- 
ence," "the personal indwelling," that He "takes up 
his abode literally in the saints, and dwells in them as 
a personal presence," "aids, comforts and works in 
them to will and to do" — it is held against all of 
this, "that though the Holy Spirit is indeed a person 

his presence in his disciples is not substantive 

and personal, but metonymical ; that is, a presence of 
power, of influence, and holy effects in the soul." — 
A Symposium of the Holy Spirit, pp. 63, 62. (My 



WORK OF THE SPIRIT. 



435 



italics.) Again, says Mr. Logan : "My Baptist and 
Presbyterian brethren regard it as a great piece of pre- 
sumption in me, when I question whether they have 
had a direct fellowship of the Spirit imparting knowl- 
edge of the forgiveness of sins." — Idem, pp. 67, 68. 
On p. 72, Mr. Logan says : "False ideas of the Holy 
Spirit's work are at the bottom of much that is to be 
regretted in the spiritual culture and movement of our 
times. The one-sided super-naturalism of Mr. Moody 
is the most conspicuous feature of his ministry. f This 
belief is none the less a power in Mr. Moody's life, 
and none the less a source of power in his preaching, 
because it is only a fanaticism without a corresponding 
reality." (My italics. ) On p. 78, Mr. Logan says : 
6 'Our religious neighbors have, sometimes, said we are 
destitute of spirituality. This comes, of course, of a 
failure to apprehend what true spirituality is. • Every 

false conception diffuses throughout a baleful 

influence. The life of occult influence is the life of 
superstition . " ( My italics . ) 

J. Z. Taylor, another Campbellite leader, on p. 106, 
arguing against what Mr. Logan so bitterly repudiates 
says: "In short, conscience cannot immediately ap- 
prehend or cognize the Spirit" 6 6 If consciousness 
testifies to the direct witnessing of the Holy Spirit to 
our sonship, then it is no longer a matter of faith that 
we are the children of God, but absolute knowledge. 
. . . By faith and not by consciousness do I under- 
stand that I am a child of God." — idem, p. 108. 
' 'The Holy Spirit bears witness with our Spirit through 
the truth ; the living Word of God. . . Something 

t How lamentable that the Campbellites have none of this 
"one sided supernaturalism, ,, and that, as Christians, we have no 
more of it than we have ! 



436 



CAMPBELLISM AGAINST THE 



additional and ever superior to this is claimed. " — p. 
112. That is, just as the truth alone converted men, 
it witnesses, as we read, hear or think of it, independ- 
ently of the Spirit, that we are the children of God— 
and this is ' 'the Spirit himself bearing witness with 
our spirit that we are the children of God" ! ! ! — Rom. 
8 :16f On p. 114: "That we believe the Lord Jesus 
Christ and have been baptized, in obedience to his will 
are matters of absolute knowledge. . . I know that I 
am a child of God, because I know that I believe on 
the Lord Jesus Christ, and have been baptized. In 
this way does the Spirit bear testimony with our spirit 
that we are the children of God." Had I no more 
testimony, in view of "if any man "have not the Spirit 



t On this passage, speaking of infidels, Tholuck comments : 
"The Socinians, Limborch and others, suppose that the gospel is 
meant, that having been inspired by the Divine Spirit. But this 
cannot be. For the Divine meuua here, cannot well be taken for 
any other than that mentioned in verse 15, as inwardly reigning in 
man. Now, it is in that sense there is ascribed to the new and 
divine nveu/m the peculiar virtue of filling our hearts with so 
child-like a love towards God, that in fullness of confidence we 
address ourselves to him, it would appear that it is just in the 
reign of love within us, that the divine witness consists. In 1 
John 5:10, we read that he that belie veth on the Son hath the 
witness in himself — Tholuck in I (To the English reader- the 
Greek word here i Spirit.) ISo Claudius, Ambrose, Bengel* Adam 
Clarke, Scott, Matt. Eenry, Earless, (Chr. Ethics, p. 308) Neander, 
(PL TV. p John 14:16; 2 Cor 1:22; 5:5; Eph. 1:13; 4:30. 

Only carnal mindeduess can account for such misunderstanding 
and misrepresentations of Scripture Any Christian, from what 
he feels in his own soul will not fail to know that the Spirit bears 
witness personally and in his soul. 



WORK OF THE SPIRIT. 



437 



of Christ he is none of his," I should think, unless I 
should repent, I had better never been born. — Rom. 8 :9. 
As Mr. Taylor is a man for whom, as a man, I have 
much personal regard, I write this with the more sor- 
row. That one of such talents as Mr. Taylor should 
take passage to glory on such a vessel is a matter that 
calls for deep sorrow. Yet, how many are with him ! 
In the book, whence these quotations are taken, are 
articles, by some other writers, among Campbellites, 
on the work of the Spirit, which are somewhat sound. 
But those who hold them are inconsistent and should 
hurriedly abandon Mr. Campbell's sinking ship. Mr. 
Braden: "The controversy is as to how the Spirit 
bears witness, lie (Mr. Hughey) says by direct im- 
pact . /say, as common sense says, he bears witness, 
testifies, or argues testimony in his words. The Spir- 
it has never borne witness except throughf his words 
and works." — Braden-Hughey Debate, p. 472. Rid- 
iculing the sealing of the Spirit, Mr. Braden says : 
4 'Does the Spirit fasten himself on oar spirits, as we 
fasten wax on a letter when we seal it and stay there 
as a lump of wax or a plaster of ivax? Nonsense say 
all." — idem, p. 483. If such language is not the 
language of infidelity, I know nothing of infidelity. 
Any number of Campbellites believe and speak this 
same delusive and carnally minded view of this great 
and vital subject, — 

While others toil, with reverential force, 
Their nimble nonsense takes a shorter course ; 
Flings at your head Campbellism by the lump; 
And gains remote conclusions by the jump. 

f The reader will remember that we believe the Spirit bears 
witness through the word, but only by personal presence or "im- 
pact," while Campbellites have only the words bearing witness, 
converting, etc , which they call the Spirit working. 



438 



CAMPBELLISM AGAINST THE 



CHAPTER XVI. 

CAMPBELLISM , UPON THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, 
IN SAVING MEN PHILOSOPHICALLY AND SCRIP- 
TURALLY WRONG. 

Section I. Campbellism upon the Holy Spirit in 
the Christian. 1. Campbellism unphilosophical and 
un scriptural, in regard to the " witness of the Spirit." 
Mill: "All names except those of our elementary 
feelings are susceptible of definition in the strictest 
sense." Hamilton: "The notion of consciousness is 
so elementary that it cannot be resolved into others 
more simple." From con, meaning together, and 
scire, to know, understand, perceive. Consciousness 
perceiving together our internal sensations, feelings. 
Consciousness, says Hamilton, "is the recognition by 
the mind or 'ego' of its acts and affections." Thus 
consciousness cannot be made more simple, so that 
when we are mockingly asked to define our "feeling 
religion," mental philosophy comes to our relief and 
hurls away the mocker. Hamilton says that though 
we cannot define we can analyze this consciousness — 
knowledge of our "feelings"- : "Though consciousness 

CD © O 

cannot be logically defined, it can be philosophically 
analyzed." We may, therefore, detect and observe 
the facts of our consciousness until we can explain its 
nature and effects. So of the things of which con- 
sciousness testifies. Thus I feel that since being in- 
troduced and becoming acquainted with certain per- 



WORK OF THE SPIRIT. 



439 



sons I have come to love them. My consciousness of 
this is unimpeachable. I cannot define the witness to 
this — consciousness ; but I can analyze the change and 
the love which it makes known. So the Christian can- 
not define the consciousness that makes known to him 
the feeling by which he knows that he is a Chris- 
tian. But he can analyze the change — analyze 
what he now feels, what he felt before grace 
changed him, and compare them together and 
with the Scriptural test of spiritual feelings. If 
this test prove him a Christian, he knows that the 
Holy Spirit wrought the change into consciousness, 
until it was made a very part of consciousness. Says 
Hamilton: "The problem then is — are there, in ordi- 
nary, mental modifications, mental activities and pas- 
sivities of which we are conscious, but which manifest 
their existence by effects of which we are conscious? 
.... I do not hesitate to maintain, that what we are 
conscious of is constructed out of what we are not 
conscious of. . . . There are many things we neither 
know nor can know in themselves, — that is, in their 
direct and immediate relation to our faculties of knowl 
edge, but which manifest their existence indirectly 
through the medium of their effects. They are not in 
themselves revealed to our consciousness, but as cer- 
tain facts of consciousness necessarily suppose them to 
exist, and to exert an influence in the mental process, 
we are thus constrained to admit, as modifications of 
mind, what are not in themselves phenomena of con- 
sciousness." Thus, Paul says: "But ye are not in the 
flesh but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God 
dwell in you" — not in heaven, leaving only the Bible 
to dwell in us. Rom. 8:9. Now, consciousness, just as 
it testifies to pain in our bodies, does not testify what 



440 



CAMPBELLISM AGAINST THE 



it is that produces the feeling but it does testify to the 
certainty of existence of the feeling. As the physi- 
cian is often led by the pain to find the cause, the 
Christian is led by the feeling to find the cause — the 
Spirit. The effects of the Spirit on our consciousness 
in the Word of God, are so clearly pointed out that we 
can certainly know whether the Spirit is in us, — while 
the physician is somewhat ' 'at sea." On this, Paul 
says: "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, 
long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, tem- 
perance." — Gal. 5 :22. And the first Epistle of John 
makes consciousness the main witness — " feelings" 
the main witness of our conversion, when he would 
have us test our profession by love, hatred, fear, etc. 
See Uohn 1:8-11, 15-17; 3: 11-21; 4:7-13, 17-21. 
In regard to these feelings he says: "If our heart 
condemn us not, we have boldness towards God." — 
1 John 3: 21. Speaking of God's feelings — love — 
infused by the Spirit into our consciousness, as a part 
of it, as he dwells in us, — ' ' hereby we know that we 
abide in him, and he in us, because he hath given us 
his Spirit." — 1 John 4 : 13. Hence, Paul says: "The 
Spirit himself" — not the word only — -"beareth witness 
with our spirit that w T e are the children of God." — 
Rom. 8 :17. See foot note to Section 3, in the latter 
part of the last Chapter. Denial of the evidence of con- 
sciousnesses but a denial of "heart-felt religion." 
Though not all who are among the Campbellites deny 
"heart-felt religion," yet it is feared that the majority 
of them do deny it. That many of them ridicule it is 
evident from quotations, in Section 3, of Chapter XV 
of this book, and from such mockings, by Campbell- 
ites, as "w T hat is your heart? — your heart is only your 
head." All Lexicons define heart, "the seat of think- 



WORK OF THE SPIRIT. 



441 



ing, feeling, willing." — See Ges. Lexicon on n{>, v^fcy, 
D^D ? 2ip , and the Greek Lexicons on xaodca. 

McCosh, one of the greatest metaphysicians, says : 
"Take the distinction drawn, in some form, try most of 
civilized languages, between the head and the heart. 
The distinction embodies a great truth Un- 
der the phrase ' heart,' in particular, are covered pow- 
ers with wide diversities of functions, such as the con-- 
science, the emotions, the will." Modern science has 
discovered what Moses declared thousands of years 
ago, — "For as to the life of all flesh the blood thereof 
is all one with the life thereof." — Lev. 17:14. Or, 
perhaps, better, as Fairbairn renders it : "The soul of 
the flesh is in the blood." — Typology, Vol. 2, p. 265. 
Fairbairn, Bahr, Delitzsch, Keil, Kurtz, would render 
v. 11, "For the blood makes atonement through or by 
means of the soul." So the majority of revisers of 
the New Version desired the passage rendered. And 
Hoffman, by taking the preposition ( n) as indicative 
of the essence of blood, — "the blood atones as the 
soul," only emphasizes the doctrine of the practical 
identity of the soul — — and the blood. As the 
blood is the seat of life, and as the heart is the foun- 
tain whence the blood goes and returns, the heart is 
the fountain of spiritual life — "the pitcher." While 
the soul and the mind are in all the veins, the heart is 
their throne. The brain is but the organ of the soul 
and the mind. Through it they think, just as the eye, 
the ear, the mouth, the nose, are their organs through 
which they are in communication with the external 
world. In Feci. 12, these organs of the soul aref 

f As materialism claims that the brain is the soul — not its or- 
gan — it should claim chat our five senses are not the instruments 
or organs, but the ; * whatever" sees, tastes, smells, hears ! ! 



442 



CAMPBELLISM AGAINST THE 



called its windows, doors. The Scripture makes 
the heart the very seat of moral or spiritual conscious- 
ness, — ever testifying what the man is. (a) This is 
emphasized by the word " heart'* occurring 160 times 
in the New Testament, and about 800 in the Old. (6) 
In the way the word is used, "The imaginations 
of the thoughts of man's heart are evil from his 
youth," — Gen. 8: 21. As I have not room here for 
quotations, I ask the reader to take his Bible, carefully 
read and compare the following Scriptures, by which 
he will see that the Bible makes the heart the seat of 
all feeling and of all moral life. Gen. G : 5; 8: 21; 
17-17; 18:5; 27:41; 43:28; Ex. 4:14; 7: 23,3, 
13,14,22; 8:15,19,32; 9:7,12,14,34,35; 10: 
1, 20, 27 , 11 : 10 ;14 : 4, 8, 17 ; 2 Sam. 6 : 16 ; 14 : 1 : 
15:6, 1 Kings 3: 9, 12; Psa. 37 : 31 ; 41: 6; 66: 
18; 119:11; 140: 2; 33:21; 44:21; Prov. 2 : 2, 
10; 3:1,3,5; 14:33; 15:13; 19:3; Matt. 5:8, 
28; 9: 4; 12: 34 ; 13:15; 15:8, 19; 22: 37; Rom. 
5:5. Consciousness makes known to us these feelings 
of the heart. By the Word of God we then test the 
nature of these feelings, and by them try ourselves. $ 
Thus, 

"His Spirit answers to the blood, 
And tells me I am born of God." 

2. Campbellism opposed to all Christian experi- 
ence and to the Scriptures, in that it denies that the 

X There is an opposite extreme to Campbellism. It is to rely 
on the testimony of consciousness without ascertaining the 
meaning of that testimony. Persons thus think themselves 
Christians .because they u feel happy," when they will not live 
a pure, honest, holy life. Such persons, while dishonest in busi- 
ness, unfaithful to promises, impure and unholy, too covetous to 
support "their preacher" and to contribute to missions, vainly 
imagine themselves Christians because they " feel good," while 
they are on the road to hell. 



WORK OF THE SPIRIT, 



443 



Spirit personally dwells in, preserves and helps the 
Christian. The Scriptures say that the Holy 
Spirit personally opens the eyes of the Christian, 
shows and explains to him the word . ( 1 ) The Psalm- 
ist prays : "Open thou mine eyes that I may behold 
wondrous things out of thy law." — Ps. 119 : 18. Here, 
though the law is before him, he prays for supernatu- 
ral aid to understand it. Commenting on this, Adam 
Clarke well says : "The Bible does not so much need 
a comment, as the soul does the light of the Holy 
Spirit. Were it not for the darkness of the human 
intellect, the things relative to salvation would be eas- 
ily apprehended." (2) Though the Bible in hand, 
the Psalmist prays : "Shew me thy ways ; Teach me 
thy paths." — Ps. 25 :4. Yauda rr, rendered "shew,'" 
means to make me understand, feel, regard. — Ges.' 
Lex. SeePs. 27:11; 8(3:11; 119:12; 143:10. A 
Campbellite would rely wholly on his unaided ability 
to understand the Bible. As T, W. Caskey, a leading 
Campbellite preacher, said to me : "I don't pray for 
faith; I get faith by reading the Bible." But every 
Christian, from experience, out of his very soul, often 
feels to cry to God, "open thou mine eyes" that I may 
understand the Word. (3) The Spirit not only in- 
spired the Apostles, etc., but, throughout the Chris- 
tian age, illuminates the Christian. He does this by 
removing prejudices, quickening the powers of the 
soul to apprehend the truth. Though the disciples 
had the Scriptures before them, often, yet Jesus 
opened their hearts to understand them, they joyfully 
exclaimed as Christians often now feel, from like ex- 
perience : "Was not our heart burning within us while 
he spake to us in the way, while he opened to us the 
Scriptures?" Luke 24 :32. To take His place, be 



444 



CAMPBELLISM AGAINST THE 



with His people "forever" and teach and bring to 
their ''remembrance'' the Word, Jesus sent the Spirit 
in greater measure than under the Old Testament. — 
John 14 :16, 26; 1 John 2 :27 ; 3 :24. "Further, this 
bringing to remembrance includes exhortation to faith 
and the keeping of Christ's Word, to the obedience of 
His precepts." — Words of Jesus, Vol. 6, pp. 247, 
248, 223 ; Tkoluck, Bengel, Adam Clarke, Matt. 
Henry, et al. So Harless' Ghr. Eih., pp. 213,197 . 
(4) The Spirit inspires all true prayer. "The Spirit 
also helpeth our infirmity; for we know not how to 
to pray as we ought."— Eom. 8 :26. Tholuck : "That 
mysterious undulation of the heart towards God, 
which, in the hour of temptation, amidst the multi- 
tude of thoughts within us, yields us heavenly com- 
fort, is a manifestation of God in our breasts." — in I. 
Bengel : "Insofar as the Spirit groans he respects 
us" — in I. As Adam Clarke remarks: "Surely if 
the Apostle had designed to teach us that he meant our 
own sense and understanding by the Spirit, he never 
would have spoken in a manner in which plain common 
sense was never likely to comprehend his meaning . . . 
We must therefore understand those places of that help 
and influence which the followers of God receive from 
the Holy Ghost. John 14:16, 17,26; 15:26, 27; 16: 
7." — in I. So Origen, Erasmus, Beza, Estius, Gro- 
tius, Wolf, Matt. Henry, Harless (Chr. Eth. p. 261 ) 
The Bible Commentary, MacKnight, Stuart, Bloom- 
field, Doddridge, Barnes, Olshausen, DeWette, Godet, 
Meyer, et al. Meyer goes so far as to understand this 
groaning to be done by the Spirit Himself. Of like 
import: "I will pour out upon the house of David, 
and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of 
grace and supplication." — Zech. 13 :10. This includes 



WOKK OF THE SPIRIT. 



445 



Christians and sinners. See Gal. 4 : 6. "Prayer is the 
emanation and operation of the Spirit, who abides in 
the redeemed of Jesus Christ." — Harless' Chr. Eih., 
p. 308. Tauler and Arndt : "Prayer consists of a 
true union with God by faith ; when our created spirit 
dissolves, as it were, and sinks away in the uncreated 
Spirit." — True Christianity, by John Arndt, p. 235. 
(5) The Spirit makes the Bible effectual to the pres- 
ervation and the sanctification of the Christian. Com- 
pare Jesus' prayer: "Sanctify them through thy 
truth." — John 17 :17 — does not imply the absurdity of 
no power which is not identical or in the Word itself; 
but it implies a direct answer of God, through the 
Spirit making the truth effectual. The whole 17th of 
John, inasmuch as it implies a power not in truth 
alone, is a scathing rebuke on Campbellism. For, 
why, in the name of common sense, pray for the dis- 
ciples, when they had, in the truth, all that was neces- 
sary? Christ's prayer for Peter, "that thy faith fail 
not," — Luke 22:32 — implies a supernatural power, 
above or outside of the Word ; or why did He not fill 
his arms with Bibles instead of prajing for him? Ev- 
ery prayer for Christians implies supernatural power, 
whether offered for themselves or for other Christians 
—or, for any one.— Bom. 12 :12; Col. 4 :2, 12 ; Eph. 
1:16; Eom. 1:9; 1 Thess. 1:2; 2 Tim. 1:3; Phile- 
mon 4, etc. If only the Bible is necessary, if no su- 
pernatural power is necessary, since Christians have 
the Bible, and prayer is to God instead of to them, 
and often without their knowledge of our praying for 
them, prayer for them is an absurdity. No less is it so 
for ourselves. Grace "to help in time of need" means 
a power that is additional to the Bible. — Heb. 4:16. 
No supernatural aid puts it out of the question to 



446 



CAMPBELLISM AGAINST THE 



speak of God as our "helper." — Eom. 16:9; Heb. 
13:6. When Campbellites "pray" they either do not 
pray, or they do not believe their own doctrine. 

As T. Munnell, a preacher among the Campbellites, 
though near sound on this, rebuking his own people, 
says: "I have always noticed that Christians, the 
most ultra, on the word alone, while in discussion, im- 
ply the agency of the Holy Spirit in their prayers." — 
A Symposium on the Holy Spirit, p. 97. Paul may 
be said to sum up the Spirit's work in the Christian 
when he says : "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy," 
etc. — Gal. 5 :22. In v. 17, he represents the Spirit 
as within us, carrying on the war against the flesh : — 
"For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit 
against the flesh." — See JSengel 9 Matt, Henry, in I. 
Harless' Chr. Ethics, p. 236. Of the need of the 
Spirit, on John 14:26, Stier well says : "On account 
of our weakness or our sinfulness, w 7 e forget, alas, and 
there is always need that one should stand behind us 
ready to pronounce our duty in our ears." This the 
Holy Spirit does — ever with us, teaching, helping in 
whatsoever we need help. Till we shall cross the river 
and enter the Paradise of God only carnality can make 
us repudiate His help. 

"Holy Spirit, faithful Guide, 
Ever near the Christian's side; 
Gently lead us by the hand, 
Pilgrims in a desert land,' 1 etc. 

Section II. Campbellism upon the Holy Spirit 

working in the sinner. While Campbellites are divided 

as to the work of the Spirit in the Christian's heart 

they, generally, agree that He does not work on the 

sinner's heart. The word alone, as we saw in the last 

Chapter, Campbellites believe saves the sinner. Eev. 

A. B. Jones, one of the few among Campbellites w 7 ho 



WORK OF THE SPIRIT. 



447 



believes in the work of the Spirit in the sinner, well 
calls this "the word alone theory — A Symposium 
on the Holy Spirit, p. 15. Believing that man is not 
dead in sin, not totally depraved, and that he has only 
to decide to "believe" and be baptized, "do right," 
and then he is saved, there can be no need of any 
power but the Word alone to save men. In refutation 
of this doctrine of Campbellism : — 

1. The Scriptural teaching on inherent and total 
depravity, clearly proves that if man is ever saved a 
greater power than truth alone must save him. See 
the Chapter, in this book, on Total Depravity. 

2. There is nothing in a sinner through which the 
"truth alone" can reach him. Pray, ten us how a 
man who is dead in sin, "full" of wickedness, "enmi- 
ty against God," who is so blind as to not understand 
the things of God, is to be saved by the unaided truth? 
See the Chapter on Total Depravity. Men argue that 
arguments alone convert men on political, scientific 
and other subjects; and that the truth should likewise 
convert the sinner. But as Anderson well replies : 
"Well, how few ardent political minds have been con- 
verted to opposite views ? And in the greater num- 
ber of instances in which change has occurred, was it 
not effected either by base bribery, to which 
there is nothing correspondent in the spiritual case, 
or, by a species of physical compulsion, rather than 
by rational conviction — by the threatening of popu- 
lar insurrection, or of national bankruptcy, or by 
the failure of the crops of harvest, making it im- 
possible for them to retain their old opinions, or at 
least to pursue their old policy. In the latter case, 
it is only a small part of man's being which rises 
in opposition ; whereas, in the former, the entire 



448 



CAMPBELLISM AGAINST THE 



force of his corrupt nature is arrayed in hostile de- 
fiance. Nor is there any hope of change being found 
for him, in that quarter, where it was found for the 
politician, whom the course of events compelled to 
surrender his old opinions as impracticable. The 
correspondence to this will be the Day of Judgment, 
when the opportunity for conversion has passed away 
forever." — Anderson on Regeneration, pp. 139, 140. 
Paschal: "We must love divine things in order to 
know them " — Midler's Christian Doctrine of Sin, 
Vol. l,p. 179. Muller: " The right apprehension 
and understanding of the Revelation of God in Christ 
depends, more than does any other kind of knowledge, 
upon the mfcral state of the individual. Theoretical 
arguments and the enthusiasm of pure logic are wholly 
unable to apprehend it — indeed, they tend to close the 
soul against it." — Idem, p. 179. This is just what 
Jesus said: — "If any man willeth to do his will, he 
shall know of the teaching, whether it be of God." — 
John 7 :17. Even a great heathen moralist, Aristotle, 
taught that"wickedness perverts the judgment, and 
makes men err with respect to practical principles ; so 
that no one can be wise and judicious who is not good." 
But, as ' 4 there is none that understandeth," ' 'none 
righteous, no not one," — Rom. 3 : 10, etc., — how is a 
lost world to be saved by the truth alone, to which 
their hatred blinds them? Mr. Lard, while not intend- 
ing his concession to have that force, has, in effect, 
admitted that there is nothing in Campbellism to save 
any one. He says : "We shall frankly admit that our 
'scheme' makes no provision to secure the attention of 
many of the human family : We mention the follow- 
ing examples : 1. Such as will not come to Christ. . . 
2. Such as hate the light and will not come to it. 3. 



WORK OF THE SPIRIT. 



449 



Such as reject the counsel of God. ... 4. Such as 
judge themselves unworthy of eternal life. 5. Such 
as close their ears and shut their eyes. . . 6. Such 
as will not attend without a supernatural agency of the 
Spirit." — Quoted in Williams on CampbeUism,p.l80. 
But, read the Chapter in this book on Total Depravity 
or only Kom. 3:10-18; 8:5-7; 1 Cor. 2 : 14 and call 
to mind, if }^ou can, some of Mr. Lard's lovers ( ?) of 
truth, with their eyesopen( ?)worthy( ?) of eternal life 
— saint - sinners whom his "scheme" can save!! As 
we proved, under the first section of this Chapter, it 
would not even save the Christian. Campbellism, then, 
confessedly, can save no one ! ! Campbellites may( ?) 
console themselves, in regard to the failure of the 
Campbellite gospel, that — 

"Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, 
And waste its sweetness on the desert air." 

3. Were the unaided truth sufficient to save a sin- 
ner, all that would be necessary to have sinners would 
be to load the printing press, the Bible, the tract dis- 
tributer, the preacher, and all who could be induced to 
get men to hear the truth, and keep them going. This 
B. B. Tyler evidently teaches when he rebukes pray- 
er for the sinner and says: "If as much time were 
spent in attempting to convert sinners as is spent in at- 
tempting to convert God, multitudes who are now in 
ignorance of the plan of salvation would be joyfully 
walking in the ways of heaven. God has given us the 
converting power. The converting power is the law, 
the doctrine, the teaching, the gospel of God." — In 
Western Recorder. Praying for sinners Mr. Tyler 
reverentially (?) calls "converting God." 

4. If the " word alone" can save men, prayer for 
sinners is wholly unnecessary. Why pray for them 



450 



CAMPBELL ISM AGAIXST THE 



when God does not answer the prayer by sending su- 
pernatural power, in the Spirit, to make the word ef- 
fectual ? Hence, B. B. Tyler says : 6 4 It is wrong for 
Christians to pray for the Holy Spirit and adds the 
words quoted under the last point, t 

5. If a Christian cannot be saved without the Holy 
Spirit to make the word effectual, how can any one 
imagine that a poor, lost, sinner can be saved without 
Him, to supernaturally make the gospel the power 
unto his salvation? 

6. The indwelling of Satan and of demons in the 
sinner's soul, and their power over him, render neces- 
sary the personal impact — working of the Holy Spirit 
to convert him to Christ. (1) The hearts of uncon- 
verted men are the palaces of demons. "But the un- 
clean spirit when he is gone out of the man, passeth 
through the waterless places, seeking rest and findeth 
it not. Then he saith, I will return unto my house 
whence I came out." — Matt. 12:43,44. Stier : "It is 
by no means a mere appearance that is here spoken 
of." "Christ, we might say with special design, ac- 
cumulates in a few words strong features taken from 
the natural history of the devil . ... so that in all 
future time it might not bethought he spoke only ac- 
cording to Jewish superstition, and that he drew the 
figure for representing world-historical realities from 

+ Many, who at the commencement of Whitfield's mission tol- 
erated his proclamation of justification by faith, rose in arms 
against him when he proceeded to insist on regeneration by the 
power of the Holy Ghost. Among them was the Bishop of Lon- 
don. When his attack on Whitfield appeared, some one re- 
marked that his Lordship's creed contained the doctrine of the 
existence of the Holy Ghost, but that he appeared at a great loss 
to know what to do with it. This satire is more than equally 
applicable to the Campbellites, with all its caustic power; for 
they, as the Bible is written, have no place for the Spirit. 



WORK OF THE SPIRIT. 



451 



unreal representations, springing from human delusion 
. . . . It was Satan's house, as a whole, that was 

spoken of Every man in a devil's power is 

his house." — Words of Jesus, Vol. 2, pp. 175, 
176. Bengel : The unclean spirit " considers as 
a portion of his property" the soul, the " house," 
and dwells in it." — in I. Adam Clarke: " If there 
had been no reality in demoniacal possessions, our 
Lord would scarcely have appealed to a case of this 

kind Into my house- — the soul." — in I. f 

So Matt. Henry, Doddridge, G. W. Clarke, etc. (2) 
Of the Ephesians, before their conversion, Paul writes : 
' 'Ye walked according to the course of this world, ac- 

X 1. The rule, for interpreting all writings, — viz. that a pas- 
sage must be understood in its most obvious, or plain meaning, 
unless it makes the writing contradictory, — requires that we un- 
derstand that the Scriptures, when they speak of Devil demons, 
mean that these beings are personal. 2. Jesus had no evil dis- 
position to tempt him ; hence, that the personal Devil tempted 
Him is certain. — Matt. 4. 3. Men's evil dispositions do not have 
intelligence, fear, etc. But these spirits do. — Matt. 8 : 29. 4. 
Men's evil dispositions do not enter swine; but devils did enter 
swine. — Matt. 8:29-34. 5. Men's evil dispositions are not mor- 
ally accountable — the men are accountable for these dispositions. 
But devils are accountable, as their punishment proves. — Matt. 
8:29; 25:41. 6. If men's evil dispositions were devils, punish- 
ment of their possessors would be their punishment. But devils 
receive a distinct sentence. — Matt. 25: 41. 7. If men's evil dis- 
positions were devils, it could not be said they, — in the men pos- 
sessing them — were cast into punishment which was not original- 
ly prepared for them.but was originally prepared for devils. — Matt 
25 :41. All honest, evangelical, modern scholarship, believes 
that devils are personal beings :- w *The attempts made to explain 
the words of our Lord and the Apostles as a mere accommodation 
to the belief of the Jews, and incompatible with the simple and 
direct attribution of personality to the demons, as much as to 
men or to God, and (if carried out in principle), must destroy 
the truth and honesty of Holv Scripture itself." — Smith's Bih. 
IHc, Vol. 7, p. 584, Srhaff, Herzog's Enry., Vol. I p. 632. So, 
that they are personal, agree Martensen, Nitzsch, Twesten, 
Julius Muller, Dorner, Haiiess, etc. 



452 



CAMPBELLISM AGAINST THE 



cording to the prince of the power of the air, of the 
spirit that now worketh in the children of disobe- 
dience." — Eph. 2: 2.f Adam Clarke: " Satan is 
termed the prince of the power of the air, because the 
air is supposed to be the region in which malicious 
spirits dwell; he has another sphere of action, viz. the 
wicked heart of man, and in this he works with ener- 
gy " — in I. So Bengel, Bloomfield, Matt. Henry, 
Doddridge, Scott, Harless, Ignatius, MacKnight Ols- 
hausen, The Bible Commentary, et. ah Barnes well 
says : 4 6 There can be no doubt that Satan is here in- 
tended ... as their leader and prince" of men. — 
in I. 

This passage states that, at least, one devil dwells 
within every unregenerate person. Inasmuch as this 
passage speaks of the former state of all members of 
the Ephesian Church, it teaches that all unregenerate 
persons are possessed of the devil. Rev. 20 : 3 repre- 
sents the Devil enthroned, personally, in the heart of 
men and preventing the millennium. (3) Acts 26 :18 
represents all sinners as in his ' 'power" — doubtless as 
he dwells within them, — "from the power of Satan." 
Baumgarten, on this passage : "Paul declares Satan 
. . . to be he who as the primary cause directs the na- 
tions which move and act with their eyes closed in the 

f Of course the devil does not effect all alike, — save that he 
makes them sinners. Not every one in whom demons were, 
when Christ was on the earth, were so raging as to be called de- 
moniacs. Yet all had devils in them. Just so throughout the 
Christian age. While all cases of insanity are not demoniacs, 
that many are I think the Scriptures leave us to infer. Many 
cases of insanity have impressed this on my mind more deeply. 



WORK OF THE SPIRIT. 



4J3 



darkness. f As St. Paul is convinced that the first seduc- 
tion of the woman by the subtlety of the serpent still 
exists, and he derives every tempting and seducing 
power in the present from the cunning and power of 
the devil and wicked one as its primary cause. (See 
Eph, 2:2; 6 :11-17 ; 2 Cor. 4 :3) There can be no 
doubt that, by the subtlety of the serpent which be- 
guiled Eve, he does not understand anything else 
than the cunning of the adverse spirit." — Apost. Hist. 
Vol. 3, p. 146. (My italics.) See, on Acts 26:18, 
Bengel, Adam Clarke, Scott, Doddridge, Barnes, 
Matt. Henry, et al. 

(4) Satan is represented as opposing the word, by 

jSome imagine that the devil and demons (ocdftoAot; 
and dac/io^cov — diabolus and daimonion — devil and 
demons. Satan or Diabolus is the captain of devils or daimonion) 
are confined in hell. But the impression originates from an in- 
correct rendering and interpretation of 2 Pet. 2:4 and Jude g. 
The word rendered hell, in 2 Pet, 2:4 — zapzapow — 
tartaroo — occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. 1. It does 
not mean hell ; for ysevva — geenna — is the word for 
hell. 2. Neither does it mean the intermediate world, in which 
souls are happy and miserable — according to their character — 
between death and the judgment ; for that word is cidr^ 
— hadee*. 3. To understand it to mean hell would make it con- 
tradict the Scriptures, which represent devils as dwelling on 
earth. Here they caused the fall ; here they tempted Job ; here 
they tempted Jesus ; here Jesus found them dwelling; here He 
"cast" them u out;" here they reign; here they instigate wicked- 
ness ; here Paul finds them; here the sinner is to be turned from 
their power; here they are when the close of this age comes. — 
Compare Gen. 3:13; 2 Cor. 11:3; Job. 1:12; Luke 22:3, 31; Acts 
5:3; 26: 18; 2 Cor. 2:11; 11 :14; Matt. 4:1; 9:22; 11 : 18; 17 : 18; 
Mark 5;15; 7:29; Luke 9:42; 11:14; Acts 10:48;Eph. 4:27; 2Tim. 
2 :26 ; Kev.12 :9 ; 20 :2, 10 4. To make it mean hell, would make it 
contradict the Scriptures, which represent that devils are not yet 
in hell, but to be cast into hell at the close of this age. Compare 
Matt 8:29; 25:41; Eev. 20:10. 5. To make it mean hell, would well 
please devils, since they are anxious that we should believe they 



454 



CAMPBELLISM AGAINST THE 



snatching it out of sinners' hearts. — Luke 8:12. If 
it be replied/ 'this 'wayside' man is not saved any how," 
the answer is : Had not the Spirit of God prepared the 
hearts of some of them, as there is "none that under- 
standeth," naturally — Rom. 3:11 — see chapter of this 
book on Total Depravity — their hearts would all have 
been "thorny," "wayside" and "stony" hearts. As 
Stier remarks : "It is the devil .... who has made 
the land rocky, and has also sown the thorns in it," 
and has made the wayside hearer. — Words of Jesus, 
Vol.2, p. 213. Stier: "There is a miraculous seed, supe- 
rior indeed to all natural seeds, so powerful that by its 
growth it can and will choke thorns, nay more, it can 
also break through the rock in striking; its roots down 
into the earth, and can make that to be again a field of 

are in hell, so that we will not heed the Scriptural warnings 
against them. 6. Tartaroo is otherwise defined. Dr. Wm. Ram- 
sey: "The word Tartarus, means, according to Greek writers, 
in ^physical sense the bounds or verge of this material system. 
. . . That place is probably, at present, within the atmosphere 
of our earth." Cud worth : "And by Tartarus here in all proba- 
bility is meant, this lower caliginous (i, e , dark) air, or atmos- 
phere of the earth, according to that of St. Austin, concerning 
these angels, 'That after their sin they were thrust down into 
the misty darkness of this lower air.' " Suidas says itmeans "the 
place in the clouds or in the air." Parkhurst : "It appears from 
a passage in Lucian that by Tartarus was meant, in a physical 
sense, the bounds of this material creation." Empedocles : "Our 
dull, lack-lustre globe is the doomed haunt and dungeon of evil 
angels, envious and malignant demons." Grotius : "That is 
called Tartarus which is lowest in anything; whether in the 
earth or in the water, or, as here, in the air." Whately : "The 
word used by Peter, which translators render, 4 cast down to 
hell,' or Tartarus, is to be understood of our dark, gloomy 
earth, with its dull clouds, foul vapors and misty atmosphere . . . 
Socrates called the abyss or sea Tartarus, as does also Plato, who 
elsewhere calls our dim, lack-lustre earth itself also Tartarus. 
Plutarch says our air ... is called Tartarus from being cold. 
Herein he is followed by Lucian, and both Hesiod and Homer 
call it the aerial Tartarus. In no other sense or way can St. 



WORK OF THE SPIRIT. 



455 



God, which was a way for the feet of the prince of 
this world." — Idem, p. 215. Of the ''good ground" 
hearer: "Grace has already worked and softened 
him, and has more or less prepared an entrance for the 
seed, Isa. 28:24; Acts 13:48;" 16 :14.— Idem. p. 
216\. (5) God is said — in the person of the Holy 
Spirit — to cast out the "strong man" — Satan — from 
man's soul. — Matt, 12:29. (6) The very nature of 
the kingdom of God is that Jesus, by the Holy Spirit, 
represented by the "linger of God," shall cast Satan 

m 

Peter be understood and explained. Lucian says, the great depth 
of the air is called Tartarus." Eph. 2:2, where Satan is called 
the "prince of the power of the air,'' harmonizes with the defi- 
nition of these learned men. So Eph. 6 :12 — wicked spirits in the 
air — za meofiarexa trjt: TLOvrjp'taq, iv ro?c enoupavioiz. In 
a foot note the Bible Union Version says: "Heavenly places" 
mean "the material heavens, the air. " So Bagster's and Bobin- 
son's Lexs : "The air as the seat of evil spirits." Both Robin- 
son's and Greenfield's Lexs. render pneumatikos tees poneerias f — 
evil spirits " To literally render it is impossible So Bengel, 
Scott, Matt, Henry , et al., on Eph. 6:12. Adam Clarke has proved 
that Tartarus, in 2 Pet. 2:4, means our earth — see his comment. 
The "chains," figuratively, mean that God here limits Satan. 
4 'Reserved unto judgment" imply they are not in hell, but re- 
served for hell. — See Matt, 25 :41, The Revisers of the New 
Version see that Tartarus is not hell; so, not knowing how 
to render it, they guess at it — "dungeon." Because modern 
lexicons and so many modern writeis have wrongly interpreted 
2 Pet, 2 :4, I make this long note. The author of this book hopes, 
some day, to publish a little volume on the Origin, the Charac- 
ter etc. of the Devil, All that want it please send in their names 
as subscribers. 

tMr. Campbell indorses the following: "The Scripture is so far 
from representing Satan as the God and governor of the air, that 
it constantly represents him in a state of confinement. . . . 
So that instead of expatiating in the boundless fields of the air, 
and shedding his woes upon miserable mortals, he and his 
accomplices are described b}^ the Apostle Peter as in the Tartar- 
ian regions ... to continue there in custody till the final 
judgment." — Mill. Harb.vol. 5, p, 272, — quoted on p. 291, of 
Text Book on Campbellism, Mr. Hand denies this is Mr. Camp- 



456 



CAMPBELLISM AGAINST THE 



out of the sinner's soul. — Luke 11 :20. Compare 
Ex. 8 :19, where "finger of God" is explained to be 
God's miraculous power — Matt. 12 :28; Ps. 8:3; Ex. 
31 :18, on finger of God, the Spirit of God and crea- 
tive power. As Stier remarks, on Matt. 12:28 : "In 
general, wherever devils are made to yield there 
is the kingdom and Spirit or powerful energy of God." 

Nowhere did Jesus ever cast out a devil by word 
alone. Out of no one's heart since has the word 
alone ever cast out a devil. The Campbellite gospel( ?) 
— that the si©ner can hear the word, overcome, break 
loose from Satan and seek refuge in Christ implies the 
sinner is so strong as to need no Refuge. Jesus, Him- 
self, was strengthened by an angel (Luke 22:43) in 
the final conflict with Satan. Yet, Campbellites tell 
us the sinner can break away from Satan of his own 

bell's own language and tries to acquit him of indorsing it by 
quoting the following note, on it, from Mr. Campbell: u Satan, 
however, the head of all opposition, thehierarch of all rebellion, the 
high priest of all idolatry, may be regarded as the original cause of 
all the paganism on the earth, and although contradistinguished 
from Jupiter, the Prince of the Power of the Air, was neverthe- 
less the occasion of all the homage paid by the Gentiles to this 
fantastic divinity, the offspring of a deluded imagination.' * — Be- 
ply to Text Book, p. 37. (My italics.) To this Bro. Pay well 
replies : "If this is not the language of A. Campbell the mistake 
was committed by the the Mill. Harb. by leaving the extracts 
which we quoted out of the quotation marks. The quotation 
closes above the point, where we took the extracts. Therefore 
the Mill. Harb represents the above extracts as the language of 
A. Campbell." Moreover, the reader will see that Mr. Campbell 
indorses the quotation, save that he says Satan was the original 
cause of sin. Hence, according to Mr. Hand, A. Campbell 
denies that Satan now influences men. This is the point Bro. 
Ray quotes him as stating. Not only this, but that he makes 
the Prince of the Power of the Air only Paul's sanction to a pagan 
divinity!! Worse and worse !! ! So Mr. Lard says: "We deny 
utterly that Satan exerts any direct influence on the human mind. 
. . . It is a sheer fiction invented for a special purpose.' 1 — B ply 
to Jetei\ quoted in Williams on Campbellism, p. 217. 



WORK OF THE SPIRIT. 



457 



power, by hearing the gospel, and, with no miraculous 
power, turn to the cross ! The Campbellite scheme 
leaves Satan not simply depending on words, but per- 
sonally with all his power dwelling in hearts which are 
already in love with his deeds, to be dispossessed by 
mere words — the word alone ! ! No wonder that Mr. 
Lard made a concession which, in effect, means that 
Campbellism can save no one. 

"How sad our state hy nature is, 
Our sin, how deep it stains, 
And Satan binds our captive minds 
Fast in his slavish chains/' 

7. Miraculous power is as much necessary to change 
a leopard's spots and an Ethiopian's skin as it is nec- 
essary to change any sinner. 4 6 Can the Ethiopian 
change his skin or the leopard his spots ? Then may 
ye also do good that are accustomed to do evil." — 
Jer. 13 :23. As Adam Clarke on v. 27, says : "Man 
cannot change himself ; but he may pray to God to do 
it. . . . To enable him to pray and believe the power 
is still at hand. If he will not use it he must perish." 
By nature, a leopard does not desire to change his 
spots; neither does a sinner, by nature, so love to do 
right as to turn to the right. 

8. To the sinner the gospel is but foolishness, except 
where the Holy Spirit makes his heart good ground 
for receiving it. Compare Rom. 3 :11 ; 8 : 5-7 ; 1 Cor. 
1-21 ; 2:14. 

9. "Except a man be born anew he cannot seethe 
kingdom of God." Eideco — eideo, rendered see, like 
our English word — "as I cannot see it as you do" — 
often means to understand. See the Lexicons, It is 
used for know or understand or perceive in Matt, 6 : 
8, 32; 7:11; 9:2,4,6; 12:2,25; 13:14,15; 20:22; 
22: 29; 26: 2; 27: 18; John 1:26,31,33; 29; 3:2, 



458 



CAMPBELL ISM AGAINST THE 



(the next verse before John 3:3), 11 ; 4:10-22 — as it 
is used for understand in hundreds of New Testament 
occurrences I cannot take room to refer to them* Nic- 
odemus' foolish question, how — is a commentary and 
Lexicon, defining eideo, to understand. Surely no 
one will claim that natural sight is here exclusively 
meant. Hence, to Peter, when others were unsaved, 
who had heard the same words, that he had heard, Jesus 
said: 6 'Blessed art thou Simon Bar-Jonah : for flesh 
and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my father 
which is in heaven." — Matt. 16 : 17. "Flesh and 
blood" means what we are by nature. See sarx, in 
the Chapter in this book on Total Depravity; see, also 
1 Cor. 15:50; John 1:13. 

10. A dead man cannot, of himself, understand or 
turn. " And you did he quicken who were dead 
through your trespasses." — Eph. 3 :2. Whether you 
render this in — which is the true rendering — or 
"through," as the New Version has it, the sinner is 
dead. As a dead man has no connection with this life, 
a spiritually dead man has no connection with the spir- 
itual life. (See Drummond's "Natural Law in the 
Spiritual World.") In either case, the dead receives 
life by a miracle only. 

11. The valley of dry bones is another proof that 
the miraculous power of the Spirit must give the sin- 
ner life. It is also a comment on Eph. 3: 2. The 
reader will here please prayerfully read Ezek, 37 :1-14„ 
Did bone ever unite to bone, sinew and flesh clothe the 
bones, and life come in the body by mere word — with- 
out the Omnipotent power of the creative Spirit of 
God? If so, the sinner without that power comes to 
Christ. Campbellism is the wild, atheistic theory of 
mad scientists, on "spontaneous generation" or spon- 



WORK OF THE SPIRIT- 



459 



taneous life, which Satan is attempting to impose 
upon the realm of grace. Spontaneous spiritual gen- 
eration or life is as atheistic as spontaneous natural 
generation or life. (See Drummonds' ''Natural Law 
in the Spiritual World.") 

12. Of a power not identical with the Word, Jesus 
says: 6 6 And they shall all be taught of God. Every 
one that hath heard from the Father, and hath learned, 
cometh unto me." — -John 6 : 43, 44. Compare John 
8 :47 ; 10 :27 ; 18:37; Acts 16 : 14 ; 13 : 48 ; 1 Cor. 
12 :3 ; (in New Version) 1 John 5 :3. These passages 
are an unimpeachable commentary on these words of 
our Savior. 

Every man that has learned of the Father cometh ; 
Only part of mankind who hear the gospel come ; 
Therefore, only part of mankind have learned of the 
Father. See Tholuck, Stier, Doddridge, Bloomfield, 
Barnes, Olshausen, Matt. Henry, Beza, NeandeY, etc. 
— in I. Olshausen truly says of this teaching and 
hearing: 6 'An internal awakening and will towards 
God and his service. ... an essential knowledge of 
God received in regeneration." — in I. On the mys- 
tery involved in this passage, Stier expresses the feel- 
ing of every true Christian: "This much is certain, 
and it is to our experience as manifest as it is mys- 
terious, according to the Lord's testimony — 'That if 
a man longs after God, it comes not from himself, but 
is the Father's drawing in Jesus Christ.' " — Words of 
Jesus, vol. 5, p. 177. By His life-giving power he 
pours into our souls the life that leads us as naturally 
to His bosom as the life of the "unconscious infant" 
seeks its mother's breast. t As Luther remarks : "He 

t This drawing is as beautifully in harmony with the laws of 
our soul as the unconscious infant is drawn in harmony with its 
nature, to his mother's bosom. 



460 



CAMPBELLISM AGAINST THE 



draweth not as a man draweth a block." But did his 

Spirit not first give the young life we would have to be 

drawn not as a block, but as a stubborn mule. 

u He drew me and I followed on, 
Bejoiced to own the call divine." 

13. "Open thou mine eyes that I may behold won- 
drous things out of thy law." — Psa. 119 : 18. Here is 
the law, but no eye to understand it. — John 3:3. 
The eye opening is of the Holy Spirit. Campbellites 
ridicule such a prayer as useless. "The Lord openeth 
the eyes of the blind," to understand the word. — Psa. 
146:8; John 3:3. Say this means the Christian, if 
you will. How much more must He open the sinner's 
eyes, that the gospel may be obeyed ! 

14. "The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the 
Lord hath made both of them." — Prov. 20 :12. Here 
the miracle that gives natural hearing and seeing is 
made illustrative of the miracle that gives spiritual 
hearing and seeing — understanding. "Mine ears hast 
thou opened." — Psa. 4:6. "Thy Lord God hath 
opened mine ear, and — "as the consequence of this 
conversion — "I was not rebellious, neither turned 
away backward." — Isa. 50 :5. As well talk of a deaf 
ear hearing, by sound alone, or a blind eye seeing, by 
light alone, as to talk of a sinner being saved by the 
unaided word. 

15. In Gal. 4 :22-29, the miraculous birth of Isaac 
is an illustration of every true Christian's spiritual 
birth. As the procreative powers of both Abraham 
and his wife were dead, so are the receiving powers — 
the spiritual life of the sinner — dead. So Doddridge, 
Mac Knight, Holden, Bloomfield, Olshausen, et al. 
To be sure, it represents the two covenants, the "old 
and the new church." But as the whole includes all 



WORK OF THE SPIRIT. 



461 



its parts, it represents birth by natural powers — the 
unregenerate — and birth by the spiritual, the miraculous 
— the regenerate. As the miraculous power of the 
Spirit made these dead procreative powers alive, so 
miraculous power has made every Christian. Compare 
Rom. 4 : 18-21 ; 17 : 17. Campbellite "Christians" are 
the Ishmaelites, — that is, they are those who were 
made "Christians" by their own natures, or, as they 
boast, without any miraculous power. 

16. Before sinners will obey God, He must write 
the word into their hearts. Compare Jer. 32 :39-40; 
Ezek. 11 :19-20; 36:25-27; Heb. 8:8-10. By com- 
paring these passages the reader will see, first, that the 
word does not of itself, alone, save; second, that it 
must be written by God's hand in the heart. The 
figure here is from God's miraculous power as His 
own hand, writing the law on the tables of stone. See 
Ex. 31 : 18. Though God may not have Himself writ- 
ten, He did, in the miracle of Sinai, write it through 
Moses. Compare Ex. 34:1; 20:1; 24:5; Deut. 10: 
2, 4 ; Ex. 34 :28. Moses is the type of Christ, through 
whose miraculous power, in the Holy Spirit, the word 
is written into our hearts. Third, that they obey 
because that power has written the word into their 
hearts — not as Campbellites have it, obey that it may 
be written into their hearts, and then write it there 
themselves ! 

17. The gift of the Spirit, in greater measure under 
the New than under the Old Testament, is one of its 
distinguishing characteristics. "But thus he spake of 
the Spirit which was not yet given." — John 7 :39. As 
chapter 10, sections "3 and 4 of this book, shows that 
the Spirit at the time He spake this, was, and had 
been since the first man that was ever saved, making 



CAMPBELLISM AGAINST THE 



the plan of salvation effectual, this, and similar pas- 
sages, are to be understood to imply that the Spirit, 
under the New, would work much more powerfully — 
be given in greater measure than under the Old. 
Tholuck : "But the question then arises, why the 
operation of the Holy Spirit is dated from that period, 
though he had wrought already under the Old Testa- 
ment, and during the life of Christ? Does the 
expression denote merely the strength of the distinction 
as to the amount of activity and power? Thus espe- 
cially it is regarded by the Lutheran interpreters." — 
in L See Words of Jesus, vol. 5, p. 289 ; Matt. 
Henry, Adam Clarke, in I: 80 Barnes, Doddridge, 
Bloomfield, Olshausen, Neanders' Plant. Training, 
p. 518. Of course, as some of these writers say, the 
passage also alludes to the Spirit as coming from the 
glorified Christ and to dwell, in greater measure than 
ever before, in His people. But it nevertheless makes 
the greater power of the Spirit the distinguishing 
characteristic of the New Dispensation. See John 14: 
16-18,26; 15:26; 16:7-15; Luke 24 :49 ; Acts 1:8; 
2:14-18. These passages promise the miraculous 
gifts, it is true; but they promise, also, the permanent 
blessing, of greater power according to John 7 :39, and 
Jer. 8 :8-10. But if only words are the power, where 
is the fulfillment of these promises? 

18. Christ's promised condition and assurance of 
the success of the gospel — "lo, I am with you alway, 
even to the end of the world" — Matt. 28 :20 — implies 
the personal presence of the Spirit to make the gospel 
the "power of God unto salvation." The man who 
is satisfied to make the Bible synonymous with the 
presence of Christ and the Holy Spirit, is to be pitied. 
He could make his wife's letters equivalent to her 



WORK OF THE SPIRIT. 



463 



presence; as he would be satisfied if Christ never 
appeared to him, providing he had only the Bible ! 
Objections. 

1. Campbellites quote, 6 6 the words that I have spo- 
ken unto you they^are Spirit and are life."— John 6 : 
63. This, they tell us, teaches that the Bible is the 
Spirit. To this I reply (a), if so, the Bible is life, 
too. So you have no eternal life, consequently, no 
heaven but the Bible. (b) If words are the Spirit, 
then we may read the following Scriptures : " he shall 
baptize you with the Bible ;" 6 4 and he saw the Bible 
of God descending as a dove and coming upon him;" 
i 'then Jesus was led up of the Bible into the wilder- 
ness * 'whosoever shall speak a word against the 
Holy Bible it shall not be forgiven him;" ' 'and the 
angel . . . said unto her the Holy Bible shall come 
upon thee," etc. ; "and he breathed on them and saith 
unto them, receive ye the Holy Bible ;" "why hath 
Satan filled thy heart to lie to the Holy Bible;" 
"prayed for them that they might receive the Holy 
Bible;" "shed abroad in our hearts through the Holy 
Bible;" "being sanctified by the Holy Bible;" "If 
any man have not the Bible he is none of his;" 
"grieve not the Holy Bible of God in whom ye are 
sealed," etc. Matt. 3:12, 16; 4:1; 12:32; Luke 1: 
35; John 20:22; Acts5:3; 8:15; Eom. 5:5; 8:9, 
Eph. 4 :30; 1 Pet. 4 :14 ; 1 John 4 :2 ; Matt. 12 :28. 
The "words are spirit and are life," are metonymy — 
i. e., effect called the cause. Just as "they have 
Moses and the prophets" — i. e., their writings: "For 
me to live is Christ."— Luke 16:31; Philip 2 :21. As 
Paul's life manifested Christ, the words of Christ 
were of the Spirit, and when made effectual, are His 
manifestation. So Doddridge, Olshausen, et aL 



464 



CAMPBELLISM AGAINST THE 



Olshausen strongly and truly says : ' 'It is not till a 
new man is born through the inward baptism of the 
Spirit that there is an organ for the reception of the 
Lord's body." — in I. In fact, the next verse shows 
that the miraculous power of the Spirit is implied in 
this verse. There have been almost an endless amount 
of interpretations of these words , but among them all 
I know of none so absurd and dangerous as the Camp- 
bellite, which makes the ivords and the Holy Spirit 
identical. 

2. Campbellites evasively and misleadingly quote 
those Scriptures which speak of the Gospel of the 
word as the instrument of salvation: — "Begotten you 
through the gospel ;" "I am not ashamed of the gos- 
pel of Christ, for it is the powder of God unto salva- 
tion," etc., etc. — 1 Cor. 4:5; Rom. 1 :16. Now, let 
it be put into capitals, as this is a common evasion of 
Campbellites, that — 

Baptists f hold, as a fundamental doctrine, 

THAT THE GOSPEL IS A NECESSARY INSTRUMENTALITY IN 
THE SALVATION OF EVERY ADULT SANE PERSON; and 
that WHETHER THE GOSPEL IS NECESSARY TO THE SALVA- 
TION OF SOULS IS NOT UNDER DISCUSSION. 

The question of discussion is : Is the Gospel sufficient 
of itself \ or independent of the mighty power of the Holy 
Spirit, to save? Campbellite doctrines of depravity 

t Art. YII of the New Hampshire Confession — the one in gen- 
eral use in the United States — says: " We believe that in order 
to be saved, sinners must be regenerated . . . That it is effected 
in a manner above our comprehension by the power of the Holy 
Spirit, in connection with Divine truth — So Chap. 20, Sec. 4, 
of the Philadelphia Confession, and Sec. 25 of the London Conf. o f 
16±3. So Baptist Theol. Writings. As Campbellites, by ridicul- 
ing prayer for the Spirit to convert,prove that they disbelieve His 
work necessary to save, Baptists, by preaching, publishing the 
Gospel, prove they believe it necessary to save the soul. 



WOKK OF THE SPIRIT. 



465 



require them to take the affirmative. This they gener- 
ally do. Baptist doctrine of depravity requires them 
to take the negative. This they do. 

3. Campbellites are fond of quoting in proof their 
notion that the Spirit does not operate on the sinners' 
hearts, John 14:17 — "the spirit of truth whom the 
world cannot receive." I reply : t4 Ye do err, not 
knowing the Scriptures." For receiving the Spirit, 
i. e., to welcome Him as a Resident in your souls, and 
His convicting and regenerating you are totally differ- 
ent things. Of course no sinner can receive the Spirit. 
If not totally depraved, the sinner would have some 
love to God, to receive the Spirit. See Tholuck, 
Stier, Hafeli, Beck, Bengel, Adam Clarke, MoM. 
Henry, et al. See John 14:17-21, 22-27 ; Rom. 8 : 
14-16. Having answered the only Cainpbellite argu- 
ments (?) and objections upon the work of the Spirit, 
I proceed with my arguments. 

19. The final conversion of the Jews is to be by a 
greater outpouring of the Spirit, to make the Gospel 
effectual to their salvation. Compare Ezek. 36 :21-38. 
Adam Clarke : ' ' This does not relate to their restora- 
tion from Babylon merely. The Jews are at this day 
scattered in Heathen, Mohammedan and Christian 
countries. From these they are to be gathered and 
brought to repose in their own land." — in I. Camp- 
bellites cannot even convert them to Campbellism — 
saying nothing of the difficulty of converting them to 
Christ. If the Gospel, alone, can save, why have they 
not been, long ago, saved? They first had the Gospel. 
Compare, on the same subject, Ezek. 37 :14 ; Rom. 11 : 
25-26. 

20. One purpose of Jesus going to the Father was 
to send the Spirit to make the word effectual. — John 16 : 



466 



CAMPBELLISM AGAINST THE 



7-11. "When he is come he will convict the world of 
sin/' etc. See Doddridge, Barnes, Lucke, Tholuck, 
Bengel, Olshausen, Beza, Chrysostom, Adam Clarice, 
Matt. Henry, President Edwards, et al. As Stier 
comments: 6 ' The world has no perfect and correct 
knowledge of what sin is, what righteousness, what 
judgment until the Holy Ghost has explained these 
words No man can be brought to an experi- 
mental and perfect knowledge of these three words, 
so current in the world, and present to every con- 
science, by any human power or wisdom, not even by 
the external influence of any letter of the word, or 
any fact of the work, even though it be of Christ and 
His Apostles, or the undeniable acts and wonders of 
the Lord since the day of Pentecost. This is the office 
of the Spirit alone, and as Spirit, by the mediation 
indeed of the word and the work, yet only so far as 
they are made inwardly efficient in heart and con- 
science." — Words of Jesus, Vol. 6, p. 343. 

21. Campbellism cannot explain, and would lead to 
a denial of the Acts of the Apostles. Why? Simply 
because it denies the secret of the conversion of the 
3,000 on Pentecost. If the word alone converts, pray 
tell us how it came to pass that, under one sermon, by 
Peter, who had denied his Lord, more were probably 
converted than were converted during the three years' 
ministry of Christ and His Apostles, — many of them 
whose hands were dripping with the blood of Jesus? 
If the word alone did that, then it would have done 
more when preached by Jesus. You must either deny 
the record or repudiate Campbellism. But, the Camp- 
bellite may say, the signs and miracles converted. Ah ! 
indeed ! (a ) Then the word alone is not sufficient ? 
(b) But signs and miracles, never have, never can 



WORK OF THE SPIRIT. 



467 



convert a soul. All they can do is to attract attention. 
The gospel* when the attention was thus secured, by the 
power of the Holy Spirit, reached the heart. But 
Jesus performed many wonderful miracles before Pen- 
tecost. Either deny that there were so many convert- 
ed on Pentecost, or acknowledge that the Spirit then 
made the word effectual. If He did so then, He 
does so now. 

22. Only by the Spirit making the word effectual 
can it be that Jesus' disciples 6 6 do greater works" 
than did He. "He that believeth on me the works 
that I do he shall do also and greater works than these 
shall he do; because I go to the Father." — John 14: 
12. Verses 14-16; 16:7-11 are the explanations. 
Jesus healed the sick, cast out demons, withstood the 
tempter, preached as no one since has ever preached, 
or ever can preach, lived as no one since has ever 
lived or ever can live, raised the dead, etc. How then 
can Christians "do greater works?" Not at all, ac- 
cording to Campbellism. As we cannot live, preach 
as well as He did, we cannot perform as great "works" 
as He did. Only in understanding that His ascension 
would result in sending the Spirit to make the gospel 
so effectual, that the preaching and the lives of Chris- 
tians would have a greater influence than did his 
preaching and life, can we reconcile this promise with 
facts and truths. But Campbellism, by denying the 
work of the Spirit, leaves the passage inexplicable. 
Meyer: "The outward results and achievements" of 
His disciples. Stier : "For I go to the Father, to give 
your prayer henceforth power from on high ; what ye 
henceforth do I will do through and in you(vs. 13 :14) 
. . . He sowed, we reap — and the harvest is indeed 
greater than the seed. . . . we ourselves partake of 



468 



CAMPBELLISM AGAINST THE 



the rich blessing shed on our activity. Therefore the 
Pentecost sermon of Peter converted more in one day 
than the Lord in three years." — Words of Jesus, Vol. 
6, p. 211, 212. So Barnes, Doddridge, Olshausen, 
Beck, Luther, Matt. Henry, Adam Clarke, Tholuck, 
et. al. ' 'The medium of such great operations is the 
prayerful exaltation of believers to God in the name 
of their ascended Savior." — Tholuck, in I. Argument 
"21" is a comment on John 14 :12. 

23. Jesus is exalted to "give repentance." — Acts 
5 :31. eJesus offered repentance to the Jews when on 
earth. His commission, as first given, was, "go not 
into any way of the Gentiles, and enter not into any 
city of the Samaritans ; but go rather to the lost sheep 
of the house of Israel." — Matt. 10:6. This passage 
cannot, therefore, mean to offer repentance; but must 
mean to, b}' the Holy Spirit, make the word effectual 
to their repentance. Of offering repentance, Hackett 
well says : "The expression is too concise to convey 
naturally that idea and zoizov p.zzavotac?'' place of re- 
pentance is employed for that purpose in Heb. 12 :17. 
. . . The exaltation of Christ is represented as se- 
curing the result in question." — in I. So Bengel, 
Meyer, Beza, Scott, Matt. Henry, Barnes, Olshausen, 
Adam Clarke, et. al. Olshausen well adds: "To all 
Pelagian modes of conception this passage stands in 
most decided opposition." — in I. Arguments "19," 
"20," "21," "22," especially furnish the explana- 
tion of Acts 5 :31. See, also, Acts 11 :18. 

24. Kepentance is conditioned by God's making 
the word effectual. "If peradventure God may give 
them repentance." — 2 Tim. 2: 25. To secure the re- 
pentance of the persons, here spoken of, two things 
are equally necessary; first, that they be taught the 



WORK OF THE SPIRIT. 



469 



truth; second, that God "give them repentance." — 
i. e., make the teaching effectual. Paul implies that, 
though the first be given, it is uncertain whether 
they may be given the second — peradventure — [irjuoze. 
See the Lexicons. But as God has given the word, 
if He gives nothing to make it effectual, the "perad- 
venture" is not concerning Him but concerning us ! 

25. The "hand of the Lord" must go with the 
word to make it effectual. "Preaching the Lord Jesus, 
and the hand of the Lord was with them : and" i. e., 
as a result of "the hand of the Lord being with" 
them, "a great number believed and turned to the 
Lord." — Acts 11 :21. A comparison of the following 
passages, as the hand of the Lord is a Hebraism, will 
show that this passage teaches that their success was 
owing to the Holy Spirit by His mighty power, mak- 
ing their preaching effectual : — Ex. 13 : 3 ; Num. 11 : 
23 ; Josh. 4 : 23,24 ; 1 Sam. 7 : 13 ; Judg. 2 :15. In 
these passages the Lord's "hand" dries up the waters, 
punishes, etc. And Num. 11:23 especially distin- 
guishes between the "word" and the hand that makes 
it effectual. Of course, the "hand" represents the 
Holy Spirit. This represents the Spirit's work in 
saving: "Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot 
redeem;" "behold the Lord's hand is not shortened 
that it cannot save." — Isa. 51 :2 ; 59 :1. Speaking of 
Matt 12 :28, says Stier : "Compare Psa. 8 :3, Ex. 31 : 
18, whence it became to be a proverbial expression 
that God's finger works mightily. That which in Isa. 
(after Moses) is called the redeeming arm of the Lord 
appears here, so to speak, the slightly touching 
finger." — Words of Jesus, Vol. 2, p. 142. So Adam 
Clarke, Matt. Henry v Doddridge, Barnes, et. ah 
With the Jews, who well knew, from the Old Testa- 



470 



CAMPBELLISM AGAINST THE 



ment, that the "hand of the Lord" denoted the mirac- 
ulous working by the Holy Spirit, there could not be 
any other meaning than that it was due to the same 
working that so many had been converted. Nor can 
we otherwise understand. Independent of the "hand 
of the Lord, 5 ' by its established use, meaning only 
miraculous power, the very statement — "the hand of 
the Lord was with them" — is explanatory of their 
success ; and admits of no other interpretation than 
that supernatural power made their preaching effectual. 

26. The Lord opened the hearts of the people to 
receive the gospel. — Acts 16:14 — "Whose heart the 
Lord opened, to give heed unto the things that were 
spoken by Paul." Making the word do what the 
Lord is here said to have done, obliterates the explana- 
tion of Lydia's giving "heed unto the things that were 
spoken by Paul." It makes nonsense. Hackett : 
"Whose heart the Lord opened, i. e., in conformity 
with other passages (Matt. 11 :25, seq. ; Luke 24 -45 ; 
1 Cor, 3:6, 7), enlightened, impressed by his Spirit, 
and so prepared to receive the truth." in I. As 
Hackett, incontrovertible, remarks, kpoaixetv — pro- 
sekein — is ecbatic — "so as to attend." Prosekein is 
present infinitive; and the present infinitive "is 
construed with entire clauses to express design" — 
Winer s JSF. T. Gram., p. 324. So the new version 
renders — "to give heed." So Bengel, Meyer, Adam 
Clarke; Doddridge, Bloomfield, Olshausen, Barnes, 
Matt. Henry. Baumgarten : "This is what we are to 
understand by the mysterious procedure. . . . There 
can be no doubt that St. Luke recognizes the extra- 
ordinary work of the Lord." — Apost. Hist., vol, 2, p. 
115. As Baumgarten remarks, so of all conversions — 
this power makes the word effectual. Olshausen well 



WORK OF THE SPIRIT. 



471 



remarks: " 'Whose heart the Lord opened' . . . . 
shows that the inclination of the heart towards the 
truth originates not in the will of man. The first 
disposition to turn to the gospel is a work of grace." 
in I. 

27. Paul says that unless God should make the 
word grow and increase, planting and watering it — i. 
e., preaching it and following up the preaching with 
instruction — would effect nothing. 1 Cor. 3:6,7. If 
the preaching of Paul and Apollos, without this "in- 
crease" from on high, could effect nothing, vain and 
sinful are we to presume that our preaching, without 
the outpouring of the Spirit, can save, f As Adam 
Clarke comments: "As in the natural, so in the 
spiritual world ; it is by the especial blessing of God 
that the grain which is sown in the ground brings forth 
thirty, sixty or a hundred fold : it is neither the 
sower nor the waterer that produces that strange and 
inexplicable multiplication; it is God alone. So it is 
by the particular agency of the Spirit of God that even 
good seed, sown in good ground, the purest doctrine 
conveyed to the honestest heart, % produces the 
salvation of the soul." So Bloomfield, Doddridge, 
JSTewcome, Matt. Henry, Olshausen, Barnes, Bengel, 
the Bible Commentary, etah 

28. We are begotten by the Lord. John 3:5; 
James 1:18; 1 John 3:9. If there is anything beyond 

fHere is the sin of the church and the ministry of our day. 
While we believe this power necessary, we do not as fully believe it 
as we ought to believe it. We need more preaching, studying, 
confessing, praying, over this. 

tOh, that as pastors and churches we so realized this that we 
would be loaded till our knees bent, to cry mightily to God for 
the increase ! ! While exposing heresies, let us examine our 
hearts. 



472 



CAMPBELLISM AGAINST THE 



doubt it is that begetting cannot be done except by 
personal impact. Paul's statement to the Corinthians : 
"I begat you through the gospel" (1 Cor. 4 :14) does 
not confound the begetting of God with the begetting 
which he did. He borrows the figure from God's 
begetting to express the fact, that through his personal, 
spiritual impact the Corinthians were converted. See 
1 Cor. 2:1-5; 3:6. God begat them by personal 
impact, implanting, germinating the truth in their 
souls. In only the sense in which a minister plants a 
new church, — personally, Paul begat them. Thus 
Paul calls Timothy, who was a son of God, his 
own son. 1 Tim. 1 :2. Campbellites think one can be 
begotten and a child of God by proxy. Why not 
believe, be baptized by proxy? Our salvation is direct 
and immediate from God. How much better is a 
church which has children of God begotten by proxy 
than one that, through the priest, has them forgiven, 
etc. by proxy? 

29. The millennium can come only by a greater 
outpouring of the Spirit, to make the word effectual. 
Whether Jesus comes before or after the millennium 
(and the Scriptures teach that He will come before it) 
the Spirit and word must convert men. Says A, 
Campbell : "There is reason, clear, full and abundant, 
to justify the expectation, that the reign of favor, as 
the government of Jesus Christ, shall embrace, under 
its most salutary influence, the whole human race ; or 
that there are plain, literal and unfigurative, as well as 
figurative and symbolic representations, in both Testa- 
ments, which authorize us to expect a very general 
spread of evangelical influence, so that a whole race of 
men, for a long period of time, shall bask in the rays, 
and rejoice in the vivifying power of the Son of 



WORK OF THE SPIRIT. 



473 



Righteousness." — Mill. Harb. vol.1, p. 54, quoted on 
p. 206, of Williams on Campbellism. But, as under 
the same conditions the same cause can produce only 
the same effect, how can the word alone bring us this 
glorious time? By comparing the following Scrip- 
tures, the reader will see that a greater power than the 
word alone will produce the blessed age: — Psa. 72; 
Isa. 2:2-4; 49:8-21; 11:1-9; 40; 60; Dan. 7:13-18, 
27; Zech. 8:20, 21, 22. 

30. The very power which raised Jesus from the 
dead is required to make Christians. See Eph. 2:4,5. 
In Eph. 1:18-20: "Having the eyes of your heart 
enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of his 
calling, what the riches of the glory of his inheritance 
in the saints, and what the exceeding greatness of his 
power to i^-ward, who believe, according to his w r orking 
in the strength of his might, which he wrought in 
Christ, zvhen he raised him from the dead." Mac- 
Knight paraphrases this passage: "That ye may 
know what .... is the exceeding greatness of his 
power, with relation to us Jew 7 s and gentiles w 7 ho be- 
lieve in making us alive from our trespasses and sins ; 
and in raising us at the last day from the dead, to en- 
joy the glories of his inheritance, by an exertion si?ni- 
lar to the inworhing of the strength of his force which 
he exerted in Christ ichen he raised him from the 
dead." (My italics.) So Doddridge, Hammond, 
Bloomfield, BaJir. The Bible Commentary, Olshausen, 
Barnes, et ah Bloomfield and Olshausen make the 
power produce both faith and the bodily resur- 
rection of the saints. So Matt. Henry: "It 
is a difficult thing to bring a soul to believe fully 

in Christ It is nothing less than an 

almighty power that will w^ork this in us." — in I. 
The sentence analyzed is, who believe according to the 



474 



CAMPBELLISM AGAINST THE 



working or energy — xaza zrjv hepyecav. (Kata with 
the accusative here refers to the working or energy 
which produces the belief — tzcgtzuovto^ xaza — believe 
according to — teen energeian — the energy. — Winer's 
N~. T. Gram. p. 401.) Of the strength — zou xpdzouz 
— reveals the source of the working which caused the 
belief. Of his might — r^c — tells whence the 
strength. And explanatory of this strength, greatly 
emphasizing the statement, is the phrase, " which he 
wrought in Christ" — s qv svepyrjaev ev zco Xpcazco. 
" When he raised him from the dead" — iyecpa^ abrbv 
ix vexpwv- — again emphasizes the statement, by desig- 
nating the strength spoken of to be that which raised 
Jesus from the dead. Thus, as plain as language can 
state it, Paul says that the energy of God's might, 
which raised Christ, produces our belief. The word 
alone theory, therefore, requires that word to have 
sufficient power to have raised Jesus from the dead ! 
This harmonizes with Eph. 2 :1, where our conversion 
is called a making alive from the dead. 

31. The word that denotes the act of the power 
which created the world is made to set forth the nature 
of the work of making Christians. "If any man is 
in Christ Jesus he is a new creature; the old things 
are passed away; behold they are become new." — 2 
Cor. 5 :17. "For we are his workmanship, created in 
Christ Jesus for good works."— Eph. 2:10. "The 
new man . . . created in righteousness." — Eph. 
4:24; Col. 3:10. Kz't^co — Jctizo — rendered create, 
means: "To produce, bring into being." In the 
sense of to establish, to found, it is never used in the 
New Testament, though in classical usage it is also 
thus used. It occurs 13 times in the New Testament. 
"Which God created ; " "more than the Creator" 



WOKK OF THE SPIRIT. 



475 



(tov xrtaavra — he who created):" "neither was the 
man created for the woman "to make in himself of 
twain one new man;" "who created all things ; " 
"created in righteousness;" "created in Christ Jesus ;" 
"the new man which after God is created '," 4 4 by 
him -all things were created ;" "after the image 
of him who created him ;" "which God hath created:" 
"for thou hast created all things ;" 6 6 they are and were 
created;" 66 who created heaven." — Mark 13:19 ;Eom. 
1:25; 1 Cor. 11:9; Eph. 2:10, 15; 3:9; 4:24; Col. 
1:16; 3:10; 1 Tim. 4:3; Rev. 4:11; 10:6. Its noun 
— xriaeQ — when speaking of God's act, is also used in 
the New Testament in only the sense of creation. The 
following are examples of its use : ' 'From the begin- 
ning of creation;" "to every creature;" "from the 
creation of the world;" " the creation of God." — - 
Mark 10 : 6 ; 13 :9 ; 16 : 15 ; Eom. 1 : 20 ; Rev. 3 : 14. 
The act of making us Christians, being characterized 
by a word, which when referring to God's act always 
denotes supernatural power, is clearly a supernatural 
work. Thus we are told that the power that created 
the world is necessary to make any one a Christian, 
So Barnes, Doddridge, et. al. 

32. The Apostle expressly contradicts the Carnp- 
bellites : "Knowing, brethren beloved of God, your 
election,how that our gospel came not unto you in word 
only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit " — 1 
Thess. 1 :4,5. If this language does not flatly contra- 
dict Campbellism there never was and never can be a 
contradiction.! See Bengel, Adam Clarice, Scott, 

t The following illustration I copy from The Watchman, of 
Boston: "Many years ago we read an incident that made on our 
mind a deep impression and led to many reflections. It is found 
in Rev. Joshua Millet's Hist, of the Baptists of Maine, and quo- 
ted in the Christian Beview, Sept. 1845. In May, 1811, Rev. Mr. 
Chase visited the Church in Charleston, Me., examined several 



476 



CAMPBELLISM REPUDIATES 



Matt. Henry, Barnes, MacKnight, Olshausen, Dod- 
dridge, Bloomfield, Pelt, Calvin, Beza, et. al. True, 
it may include miracles. But, as Bloomfield and oth- 
ers remark, it also includes the power of the Spirit in 
applying the word. 

With these thirty-two arguments, I close this Chap- 
ter. May the spirit impress upon you, my dear reader, 
the prayer : 

"Come Holy Spirit come, 

Let thy bright beams arise, 
Dispel the sorrow from our minds, 

The darkness from our eyes. 
Convince us all of sin, 

Then lead to Jesus' blood, 
And to our wondering eyes reveal, 
, The mercies of our God." 



candidates before the Church, and received them into it by bap- 
tism. Among them was a Mrs. D., whose conversion was so re- 
markable that its circumstances could never be forgotten. Mr, 
Chase obtained them fully from the lady herself, and gave them 
to the historian, who records them as follows: 'When but a 
youth, on a party sleigh-ride, from Hampden to Bangor, on the 
river, and in a sleigh drawn by two horses, the ice gave way, and 
Mrs. D., with her companions, was plunged beneath the watery 
elements ; but, fortunately, all but the horses were saved. Dur- 
ing this immersion, Mrs. D., her soul by the instantaneous and 
powerful working of the Spirit, was converted to God. The 
rapid progress of thought and experience in this short moment, 
as she distinctly recollects, was as she was falling, a most vivid 
and impressive thought of death filled her mind. This was in- 
stantly succeeded by an overwhelming consciousness of her sins, 
her guilt and her just condemnation, and this with a view of the 
character and law of God, shining in incomprehensible bright- 
ness, reflecting His love and justice; and then, in a moment, ev- 
ery energy of her soul seemed consecrated in one unyielding de- 
sire for mercy. At this instant, those who escaped from the water 
drew her upon the unbroken ice, when her soul was filled with 
love to God and Christ, and her tongue unloosed to praise His 
name, She says that she hardly thought of her temporal salva- 
tion, but with unutterable astonishment and gratitude,she beheld 
that glorious grace which gave her heavenly delight. This was 
no delusion. Her subsequent life of piety is evidence of its re- 
ality.' " 1. This conversion was the work of the Holy Spirit, 2. 



SCRIPTURAL REGENERATION. 



477 



CHAPTER XVII. 

CAMPBELLISM REPUDIATES THE SCRIPTURAL NATURE 
AND THE ORDER OF REGENERATION, REPENT- 
ANCE AND FAITH. 

Section 1. Campbellism repudiates the Scrip- 
tural doctrine of regeneration. .Regeneration, as the 
word implies, is generating anew. Regeneration, 
here, implies generating a new nature. Palingenesia 
— nalqyzvzaia — rendered regeneration — occurs but twice 
in the New Testament— in Matt. 19: 28; Tit. 3:5. 
Only the latter passage primarily denotes this change. 
But in such phrases as "born again," "born" or "be- 
gotten of God," and in many other ways the Scrip- 
tures teach us that regeneration is essential to salva- 
tion. Generation implies, (a,) seed, (&,) that the seed 
gives the generated the nature of the generator, (c,) 
that divine power, — a power greater than nature, in a 
mysterious way, through the seed produces the nature 
and the life. So regeneration implies seed, a like na- 
ture and life to the seed, and that nature of myste- 
rious and divine production. The "word" is the 
seed, the Holy Spirit, as it is sown, implants it into 
the soul aud through it produces the new nature and 

Like all conversions, supernatural, 3. It was through the word 
which the Spirit was probably impressing upon her before the ac- 
cident- 4, It illustrates "The wind bloweth where it listeth,'' — 
mystery, often unexpectedly appears — "and thou hearest the 
voice thereof, but knowest not whence it cometh and whither it 
goeth, so is every one that is born of the Spirit."'' — John 3:7,8. We 
know the presence of the wind and of the Spirit — only by their 
effects. 



478 



CAMPBELLISM REPUDIATES 



the new life. "Of his own will he brought us forth 
with the word of truth." — James 1 :18, 21. "Having 
been begotten again, not of corruptible seed" — like 
fleshly seed — "but of incorruptible, through the word 
of God."— 1 Pet. 2:23. We are, therefore, said to 
partake of the divine nature and the divine life. See 
2 Pet. 1:4; John 5:26; 6:4; 2 Cor. 4:10; 1 John 
5 : 12. This gives us understanding, feelings and will 
alike to the Being who begot us. Hence we live like 
Him See Rom. 8: 5,6-10; Gal. 5:22-25; 1 John 
2:3-6. But Campbellism, teaching that our fleshly 
nature is not totally corrupt and lost and that all there 
is in regeneration is hearing with fleshly nature, being 
and repenting with fleshly nature, and with fleshly na- 
ture — as children of the devil, being baptized, repu- 
diates every characteristic of Scriptural regeneration. 
From the vast array of Camp belli te testimonies, given 
in this book, on Total Depravity, and on Baptismal 
Regeneration and on the work of the Holy Spirit, 
quotations are not necessary to make this evident as 
the fundamental of Campbellism. It is involved 
in the Oampbellite position upon depravity, baptis- 
mal regeneration and the work of the Spirit. Every 
part of truth or doctrine, like every figure in a math- 
ematical problem, must have its right position and 
meaning, or the result or system of doctrine is false. f 
But I will insert a few Campbellite testimonies. A 
Campbell : "It appears, then, that the faculties of the 
human spirit and the affections of the human mind are 
affected no more by regeneration than the height of 
the human stature, the corpulency of the human body, 

t Owing to this, exegesis and theology cannot be divorced. 
No man can be a reliable exegete who is not a reliable theolo- 
gian and vice versa. 



SCRIPTURAL REGENERATION. 



479 



or the color of the human skin are affected by it. 
. . . The Scriptures authorize us in declaring that it 
consists in presenting new objects to the faculties, 
volitions and affections of men which new objects ap- 
prehended, engage the faculties or powers of the hu- 
man understanding, captivate the affections and pas- 
sions of the human soul, and consequently direct or 
draw the whole man into new aims, pursuits, and en- 
deavors." — Christian Baptist, p. 131. Thus, as re- 
generation effects neither our size nor color it does 
not effect our understanding, affections and will ! If 
this is not something effecting nothing, language is 
nothing. Consists only in presenting new objects, etc. ! 
But, pray tell us, if everywhere in the Scriptures the 
right objects and aims are not recognized as always 
presented to all men ; and if they are not condemned 
for rejecting them ! ! How are men to take up with 
the right objects and aims, when they love the con- 
trary? A Christianity that teaches that men are 
saved only by truth being presented is just what infi- 
dels hold. They teach that to elevate men you have 
to only educate them. Such doctrine is as ridiculous 
as the man who tried to lift himself by taking hold of 
his boot straps. So Mr. Campbell says of the line 
between the saved and the lost : "This act is sometimes 
called immersion, regeneration, conversion." — Chris- 
tian System, p. 193 . 6 6 To call the receiving of any 
spirit or any influence upon the heart of man regen- 
eration is an abuse of all speech, as well as a depart- 
ure from the diction of the Holy Spirit, who calls 
nothing personal regeneration except the act of im- 
mersion." — Idem, p. 202; also, p. 60. (The italics 
are Mr. Campbell's.) 

Section II. Campbellites repudiate Scriptural re- 



480 



CAMPBELLISM REPUDIATES 



pentance. In view of the Campbellite teaching con- 
cerning depravity, the work of the Holy Spirit, and 
regeneration, Campbellites must view repentance, 
first, as the act of a purely fleshly nature; second, as 
the act of such a nature in its own strength; third, 
therefore, but an outward reformation. Hence, they 
preach to sinners that, of their own nature and 
strength, they have but to be persuaded to ' 6 leave off 
all wickedness," be immersed, and so continue, to be 
saved. The sinner, like the Pharisees, thus outwardly 
reforms and at last perishes in his sins. See Matt. 
23:27-29; 15:14. Hence, Mr. Campbell struck re- 
pent out of the New Testament and accepted the word 
"reform." He adopts the rendering: "From this 
time Jesus began to proclaim, saying, 'Reform for the 
reign of Heaven approaches." — Christian System, p. 
163. f 

1. Repentance must be the act of the "flesh," the 
"old" nature, the "old man" or of the "new man" — ■ 
the "old" Adam or the "new" Adam. 

2. If repentance is the work of "the flesh," the 
"old" nature, the "old man" — the "old" Adam he is 



t Kepent is a word which denotes an internal act — an act of the 
mindonly. It implies -'reform " Epistrepho- enter psipo— denot- 
ing a turning, of the nature of a "reform," would be much more 
appropriately rendered "reform" than would metavoeo—^era- 
voect), (the Greek for repent.) Metanoeo implies both sorrow and 
"reform " As well render it sorrow as to render it "reform ' 
Mr. Campbell, like Komanists, substituting "do penance'' 
for repent, readily adopted "reform" for repent because it 
could be better used for his mere external religion Much of the 
"evangelistic" work, of our time, by those who deny that they 
are Campbellites, is mere reform without repentance Camp- 
bellism is too often found outside of the Campbellite sect. 



SCRIPTURAL REGENERATION. 



481 



very much changed from what the Scriptures, in the 
chapter of this book on Total Depravity, present him. 
—Rom. 8:5-8; 1 Cor. 2:14; Gal. 5:17-21. 

3. Repentance is either righteousness or it is sin. 

4. If repentance is sin, it cannot be acceptable to 
God. 

5. If repentance is righteousness, it must be a 
consequent of regeneration ; or 

6. Man can do righteousness without regeneration. 

7. If man can f do righteousness before he is 
regenerated, as righteousness will take anyone to 
Heaven, man can 6 'go to Heaven" without regenera- 
tion. If he can do one righteous act without regener- 
ation, he can do another without regeneration and ad 
infinitum. 

8. If man can do righteousness before he is regen- 
erated, as regeneration is a fundamental of salvation, 
there is one of the fundamentals of salvation which 
man does not need. 

9. If man can dispense with one fundamental of 
salvation, the presumption is that he can dispense with 
all its fundamentals. 

10. Consequently, repentance before regeneration 
implies that man can dispense with a Saviour. This 
is the moralist's creed . By eliminating the great 
doctrines of miraculous grace, Campbellism is only a 
scheme of the moralists, dipped into the water. 

11. Repentance is minding the things of the Spirit. 
"They that are after the flesh" — unregenerate — Rom. 
8 :5 — "do mind, [only] ((ppopoucfcv thinking on, the 
mind set on, inclined to — See the Lexs.) the things of 
the flesh" — only sin ; 



f For answer to u why repent if regenerated without repent- 
ance, " here turn to and read Chapter 19, of this book. 



482 



CAMPBELLISM REPUDIATES 



Therefore, repentance is not of those who are "after 
the flesh" — unregenerated. 

12. Understanding the things of God is essential 
to repentance; (See chapters of this book on Total 
Depravity and on the work of the Spirit, John 3:3; 
3 :11 ; 1 Cor. 2 :14) The unregenerate do not under- 
stand the things of God; 

Therefore, the unregenerate lack an essential to 
repentance. 

13. Repentance is pleasing to God ; 

"They that are in the flesh" — unregenerate — "can- 
not please God ;" fRom. 8:8.) 

Therefore, they that are in the flesh cannot repent. 

14. Any act of a soul which "is enmity against 
God" cannot be acceptable to Him; 

Repentance of an unregenerate soul is the act of a 
soul which "is enmity against God." Therefore, 
repentance of an unregenerate soul cannot be accept- 
able to God. f 

15. No one will repent of sin until he is made to 
hate sin; 

The unregenerate cannot hate sin ; 
Therefore, the unregenerate cannot repent. 

16. No one will turn from sin to do righteousness, 
until he is made to hate sin and love righteousness ; 

But the unregenerate love sin and hate righteousness ; 

f The repentance of Judas was of this nature. Hence the 
Greek word for genuine and complete repentance is not used to 
characterize his course. But it is fiezafieXrjdet^^ which 
Trench,Jeremy Taylor, et. al., say, "goes so far as to change the 
mind that it brings trouble and sorrow, and such things as are 
the natural events of it v — Synonyms of the 2V. T., p % 92. Hence 
it issued in despair and he u went and hanged himself," thus ad- 
ding the sin of self-killing to his already dark life. (Matt. 27, 
3,5); 2 Cor. 7:10. 



SCRIPTURAL REGENERATION. 



483 



Therefore, the unregenerate will not turn from sin 
to do righteousness. 

To turn from sin to do righteousness is to repent; 

The unregenerate will not turn from sin and do 
righteousness; (Acts 14:15.) 

Therefore, the unregenerate will not repent. 

17. No one will turn from one whom he loves to 
one whom he hates ; 

The unregenerate love Satan and hate God ; 
Therefore, the unregenerate will not turn from 
Satan unto God. — Acts 26:18. 

18. Every act, acceptable to God, is from love toHim ; 
Repentance is acceptable to God ; 

Therefore, repentance is from love to Him. 

19. Repentance is an act of love to God ; 
But the unregenerate do not love God ; 
Therefore, the unregenerate do not repent. 

20. Genuine repentance is the effect of Godly sor- 
row; (xara Osov Xutit} — literally, sorrow according to 
God — i. e. according to the nature of His righteous- 
ness.— 2 Cor. 7:10.) 

No unregenerate person has Godly sorrow ; 
Therefore, no unregenerate person has genuine 
repentance. 

21. The product of seed is the result of germina- 
tion or generation ; 

Repentance is the product of the gospel seed — the 
word; (Luke 8 :11 ; James 1:18; 1 Pet. 1:23; Uohn 
3:9). 

Therefore, repentance is the product of germination, 
— re-generation. 

22. Repentance is the gift of God. For explana- 
tion and proof of this, see "23," under the last section 
of chapter XVI. Inasmuch as God gives repentance 



484 



CAMPBELLISM REPUDIATES 



through His word, and His word, like any kind of seed, 
produces nothing until it has supernaturally germinated 
and generated, it follows that repentance is given 
through re-generation. See section I of this chapter 
on what regeneration is. 

23. Repentance is the proof of the possession of 
the new life. While dead in sin the soul is insensible 
to its surroundings, and cut off from all communication 
with the world of spiritual life. Life brings the sight 
to see, the heart to move and get out of the world of 
destruction. As Lazarus obeyed, came forth only 
after life was restored, so only when the resurrection 
quickens the soul, will it come forth from the grave of 
sin to turn to the Lord. 

24. Repentance is the digging up and the casting out 
of the way, the offensive graves of the past, the turning 
from Satan to God, from sin to righteousness — an 
unconditional renunciation of Satan and an uncondi- 
tional and loving surrender to and acceptance of God. 
Such Scriptures as taking "up the cross," hating 
father and mother, etc., etc., are of great significance. 
They exhibit repentance in no acceptable way to the 
"flesh." No man who knows what self-denial is, will 
be slow to regard repentance as one of the most testing 
evidences of regeneration. See Matt. 16 : 24-27 ; Gal. 
5 :24 ; 6 :14. It involves crucifixion. 

25. Repentance is the turning point to a man's 
life. Repentance, involving a turning from Satan to 
God, from sin to righteousness, self-denial, crucifixion 
of self, it is the battle, it is, over sin, the victory of all 
victories. Just as the turning of the course of a river 
from its mad career, of an engine from its wild run to 
death, of a disease from its death course, of an earthly 
battle, of the prodigal son, repentance is the trials the, 



£ JRIPTURAL REGENERATION . 485 

critical point of a man's life. The angels, as they 
behold the battle of repentance, drop their harps, 
hang, in breathless silence and anxiety, over the bat- 
tlements of heaven. As they catch the first sign of 
victory, harps are caught up, heaven resounds with the 
greatest joy. — Luke 15 :7. As well ask me to believe 
that unregenerate, I can cut my way through Satan, 
sin and hell, to heaven, as to ask me to believe that 
unregenerated, I fought the battle of my life — that of 
repentance. If this poor saved creature knows any- 
thing of his own life, of the 6 6 old' ' and the ' 6 new 
man," he knoivs that not the "old man/' but the "new 
man," seized the reins of his being, turned it from its 
course to death and hell, to God, immortality and 
heaven. The "old man" hates repentance, and uses 
all his nature against it. He never was and never will 
go into the repenting business. How can any one im- 
agine the "old man" — the "old," unregenerate nature, 
repents when God so earnestly warns and exhorts us to 
"put away .... the old man which waxeth corrupt 
after the lusts of deceit" — Yes, even making us believe 
that the "old man" repented and believed, that 
we might receive and welcome the "new man" ! ! ! ! — 
— ; "Ye have put off the old man with his doings" — 
fRom. 6 :6 : Eph. 4 :22 ; Col. 3 :9. 

Section III. Campbellism repudiates Scriptural 

t On the "old man" meaning onr unregenerate nature and the 
"new man" our regenerate nature See Midler's Chr. Doc.of Sin, 
vol 1, p 332, vol 2, pp.352, 353. As Muller remarks: "The 
apostle recognizes that man in his separation from God and de- 
votion to the xoafioc, (world) can originate nothing truly good in 
himself " Tholuck: "The old man" is "the evil nature " — on 
Eom 6 :6. So Bengel, A. Clarke, Scott, Wolf, Matt Henry, et al , 



486 



CAMPBELLISM REPUDIATES 



or saving faith. The only faith of which Campbell- 
ites have any knowledge is a mere belief that certain 
things have been, are and will be. In their preaching 
they often liken Scriptural or saving faith to the be- 
lief that George Washington was President of the 
United States. Alexander Campbell defines Scrip- 
tural faith to be of the nature of a mere be- 
lief " that God exists:" « 'Repentance is the effect 
of faith: for who that believes not that God exists, 
can have repentance." Christian /System, p. 53. 
Eld. Wilmeth, editor and proprietor of the "Chris- 
tian Preacher ," Dallas, Texas, in his debate with Rev. 
B. H. Carroll, D. D., said that the faith of the Athe- 
nian idolators and the devils — Acts 17 ; James 2 :19 — 
was Christian faith. In their debates with myself, 
Elders Bantau, Caskey, Robertson, Smith and others 
likewise tried to teach. I will give Mr. Wilmeth' s 
words: "The brother tries to make capital out of 
what he calls the faith of the people wholly given to 
idolatry, and then quotes v 34 to show where true 
faith comes in. But the faith of these Athenians is 
not to be laughed at." So Campbellites unhesitatingly 
affirm that Simon, the sorcerer, one of the blackest of 
characters, had Scriptural faith ! ! — See Wilmeth' 's De- 
bate with Carroll, Hand's Text Booh Exposed, p. 236. 
Indeed, repudiating the Scriptural teaching on Deprav- 

on these Scriptures. Harless: The "old man" is "our inborn 
and degenerate nature, called the flesh. " Chr. Eth., p. 238, 
312. Certainly there is nothing more clearly taught in the 
Bible and on which all Bible students are better agreed than that 
the "old man" is our evil, unregenerate nature Once settle 
that repentance is a good work and that the "old man" is only 
corruption — never doing good and no one can fail to see that 
only the regenerate nature— the 4 new man" repents. 



SCRIPTURAL REGENERATION. 



487 



ity, on the Work of the Spirit, and on Repentance, 
Campbellism can know only the faith of Simon, the 
Athenian idolators, of every unregenerate man, who is 
not an Ingersollite, and of demons. That the belief 
of which Campbellites speak precedes saving or Scrip- 
tural faith is true. But it possesses nothing of the nature 
and character of saving or Scriptural faith, Because : — 

1. The Campbellite faith is the creature of devils 
and of the 6 6 old man." Devils believe and millions 
of bad men believe that Jesus is God, that He died 
to save sinners and that the Bible is true. He who has 
examined the evidences of Christianity and does not 
believe it true, is incapable of being a reliable jury- 
man. Nothing good, in any man, is implied as nec- 
essary to Campbellite faith. 

2. As Campbellite faith is of the " old man" we are 
exhorted to put it off — "put off the old man with his 
doings." "Put off" such faith with all its doings. 
Simon had it ; the Athenian idolators had it ; demons 
have it : in them all it produced only sin. It leads 
men into the water to wash out the leopard's spots 
and to cleanse the Ethiopian's skin. Of only an evil 
nature it can be only evil. The spiritual stream can 
no more rise above its source than can the natural. 

3. You have only to substitute the word faith for 
repent, repentance in the first sixteen arguments and 
also arguments "19," "20," "23," on repentance, 
under Section II, of this Chapter, and those arguments 
equally prove that faith is of the neiv man — of regen- 
erate persons. f I therefore request the reader to do 
so, and thus have eighteen incontrovertible proofs, 
here, that faith is an effect of regeneration. 

t For answer to "Why believe if regenerate before believing," 
here turn to and read Chapter 19, of this book. 



488 



CAMPBELLISM REPUDIATES 



4. Faith is a loving reliance on and a loving ac- 
ceptance of Christ. ' 'But faith working through 
love." — Gal. 5:6. As the unregenerate are "enmity 
against God" — Eom. 8 : 7 — they have none of the 
faith, which is of love. 

5. That faith is of only the regenerate is certain in 
that it is of the same heart of which repentance comes. 
That it is of the same heart of which repentance 
comes is evident from its being, in the order of time 
and exercise, preceded by repentance. For the proof 
of faith being preceded by repentance, see the section 
next after this section. 

6. That faith is of only the regenerate is certain 
from the fact that it entitles us to be regarded as born 
children of God, and accepted in Christ. For proof 
of faith giving us the right to be so regarded the read- 
er is referred to Chapter 19, of this book. "He that 
believeth on the son hath eternal life." — John 3:36. 
Nothing between belief and life. 

7. Faith is the proof of life. As in the natural 
world all action follows life, so in the spiritual. When 
Jesus said: "He that believeth on me hath eternal 
life," He said of the spiritual life only, what we all 
say of the natural life when we say that only the liv- 
ing think, feel, will, act, — live. No man can deny the 
presence of either natural or spiritual life, where there 
is natural or spiritual action. No more can any one 
deny the absence of natural or spiritual life where 
there is certainly no action. In bringing before the 
Christian world the great fact that God governs both 
the spiritual and the natural world by the same great 
laws and principles of life, Drummond, in the "Nat- 
ural Law in the Spiritual world," has rendered a last- 
ing service. But as life follows instead of preceding 



SCRIPTURAL REGENERATION. 



489 



generation it must do so with regard to re-generation. 
Hence faith, being evidence of life, is certain proof 
that regeneration has taken place. 

8. Faith is born or begotten of God, and is, in 
the Scriptures, said to be the proof of being regen- 
erate. "Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ 
is begotten of God." — 1 John 5:1. And in v. 4, 
"Whatsoever" — nav — neuter gender pointing to faith 
— "is begotten of God — overcometh the world ;"to em- 
phasize faith as born of God he says "even our faith ." 
Just as the earthly father begets the nature and dispo- 
sition of his child the Heavenly Father, in re-genera- 
tion, begets the holy nature and disposition which be- 
lieves. Campbellites say that the act produces the 
life, that the life is the child's own /^-generation ! 

This is Haekelistn in religion. In religion it out- 
Darwins Darwin in nature; for he did recognize a 
first life as evolving all life. But Campbellism 
jumps the gulf from no life to life. 

9. Faith is wrought into the heart by the power 
which raised Jesus from the dead. For proof of this 
I refer the reader to "30" of Section II of Chapter 
XVI, of this book. 

10. Faith is "of the operation of God." — ntarecoc: 
rye ivepye'ia^ robdeoi) — literally, faith of the energy of 
God — (The New Version is erroneous here) — Winer's 
JV. T. Gram., p. 184 — "the Genitive is the whence — 
case."— Col. 2:12. Adam Clarke: " Which faith was 
produced by the operation or energy of God." — in I. 
Bengel : "A remarkable expression : Faith is of divine 
operation" — in I. — So Paul says: "But the fruit of 
the Spirit is . . . faith" — nlaus — Gal. 5:22. (Here 
again the New Version is wrong.) I have, in answer- 
ing Campbellite objections in Chapter XVI, shown the 



490 



CAMPBELLISM REPUDIATES 



absurdity of substituting the Bible for the Spirit. 

11. That faith is "not of ourselves but is the gift 
of God," which we exercise, is expressly stated. 
"Through faith ; and that" — i. e., that faith — "not of 
yourselves." — Eph. 2:8. Because pisteos — ntarecoQ — 
faith is feminine and touto — touto — "that," is neuter, it 
has been, by some claimed that touto refers to salvation. 
In reply to this, first, the neuter in Greek is used for the 
feminine. Hadley : "A pronoun of reference maybe 
neuter, when the antecedent is masculine or feminine." 
Greek Gram., p. 214; Winer s ]¥. T. Gram. p. 178. 
In his masterly work on Regeneration, p. 47, Ander- 
son approvingly cites Doddridge : "As for the Apos- 
tle's using the word touto in the neuter gender to sig- 
nify 'faith,' the thing he had just before been speak- 
ing of, there are so many similar instances to be found 
in the Scriptures, that one would wonder, how it were 
possible for any judicious critic to have laid so much 
stress on this as they do, in rejecting what seems be- 
yond all comparison, the weightiest and most natural 
interpretation. Compare the original of the following 
texts: Philip. 1 : 28 ; Eph. 6 :18 ; Gal. 3 :17 ; 4 :19. And 
for the like construction of other Greek authors of un- 
doubted credit, see Eisner, Observ. Vol. 1, p. 128, and 
Raphael Annot, ex. Herod, p. 18(3." Doddridge, far- 
ther, well remarks : "But I apprehend that the impar- 
tial reader would not be willing to allow" the interpre- 
tation which makes that — toutou — refer to salvation, 
"which makes the latter clause a mere repetition of 
what was said before, and a repetition of it in 
less proper expressive words. None could imagine 
that our being saved by faith was of ourselves, or that 
we could ourselves appoint such a way of salvation, 
which was indeed fixed so long before we had a being. 



SCRIPTURAL REGENERATION. 



491 



But faith being really our own act, it was highly per- 
tinent to observe that the excellency of this act is not 
to be arrogated to ourselves, but is to be ascribed to 
God. All that are acquainted with the genius of the 
original must acknowledge that this is a construction 
which it will very fairly adroit." — Anderson, on Re- 
generation, p. 146. Prof. Riddle, in Lange's Com., 
while opposing Doddridge's interpretation, concedes 
that "the gender of touto is not decisive in favor of 
salvation as being the gift." That touto — "that" — 
refers to faith is evident, (a), because no one could 
doubt that salvation was of God. (b) But as faith 
was an act of their own they were liable to think that 
instead of the "act" being the exercise of a divine 
"gift" it originated with them. In the controversy, 
in our own time, over whether "faith is the gift of 
God," we see the necessity of this passage, (c) To 
say that salvation was not of "yourselves," would only 
repeat what was more aptly expressed in the phrase 
"for by #r ace." Such awkward tautology is wholly 
inadmissible. I will illustrate by a similar statement: 
Through negligence in not keeping a railroad bridge 
well repaired, a train breaks through and 25 persons 
are killed. The matter is taken into court. In the 
Judge's verdict against the railroad company, occurs 
the sentence : "Their lives were lost through negli- 
gence and that not of the bridge watchman." The 
man who would make "that" refer to lost rather than 
to negligence would certainly be regarded as mentally 
obtuse. "Saved through faith and that not of your- 
selves;" "lost through negligence and that not of the 
watchman" — they are precisely the same kind of 
statements. If "that" refers to saved in the first 
case, "that" refers to lost in the second. But if 



CAMPBELLISM REPUDIATES 

4 4 that" refers to the watchman in the last, "that" re- 
fers to faith in the first. On the passage, Bengel 
comments: Kai touto — "and this, namely, believing 
or faith is not of yourselves. The antithesis is : this 
is the gift of God alone." Though Arminians, both 
Bengel and Whitby reject the trifling which makes 
touto refer to salvation. So, John ArndVs True 
Christianity , p. 345. The early Church fathers, Be- 
za, Olshausen, Drs. J. S. C, and J. A. Abbott, Pisca- 
tor, Dr. Charles Hodge, refer touto — "that" — to 
"faith." — Hodge's, etc., Com., on Eph. 2:8. Heb. 
12 :1, 2, though more open to quibbling, expresses the 
same fact that is expressed in Eph. 2 :8. On it see 
Scott, Bengel, Matt. Henry and Arndt. As Bengel 
says, on Heb. 12:2, of faith: "It is drawn from him 
to its necessary consequence." "True faith is never 
and in no case obtained, except in consequence of a 
spiritual quickening not springing from myself, nay, 
which presents itself to my consciousness as an over- 
powering force, and to which, as a truth and actuality 
coming not from myself, but from God, I say in faith, 
Yea and Amen." — Christian Ethics, by Harless, p. 
192. 

The faith that believes the Bible true, is only the 
faith of the "flesh." It has not God for its object, 
Christ for its basis, the Spirit, through the word, as 
its author ; its essence is of a heart of hatred and 
disobedience to God, and it has eternal death as its 
destiny. The faith of the gospel has God for its 
object, Christ for its basis, the Spirit, through the 
word, for its author ; love and obedience for its essence 
and eternal glory for its destiny. As any one of dry 
intellect can reason out a mathematical problem ; any 
one without grace in his soul, can reason himself into 



492 



SCRIPTURAL REGENERATION. 



493 



the faith of all sinners who are not Ingersollites. But 
only of God is the faith of the Scriptures — 6 ' saving 
faith" which is "working through love." — Gal. 5:6. 
The former faith has not a drop of the blood and 
righteousness of Christ ; the latter has only His blood 
and righteousness. The former makes the man say: 
"I have enough of goodness by nature to savingly be- 
lieve without faith being supernaturally wrought with- 
in me;" the latter says, for I know that in me "dwell- 
eth no good thing" to originate faith. Rom. 7:18. 
The former makes the man say it is my own goodness 
which believes ; the latter makes him say : "It is God 
which worketh in" — me "both to will and to work for 
his own good pleasure." — Philip. 2 :13. The former is 
of hell; the Pharisees, the Athenian idolaters, king 
Agrippa, Simon the Sorcerer and devils have it. The 
latter, only those who are created anew in Christ 
Jesus have. The former is dead faith. It manifests 
itself by doing nothing, by doing the wrong thing, or 
by usurping the office of saving faith and with 
wrong feelings and purposes, like a parrot or monkey, 
doing what only saving faith has the right to do. 
Originating with the "flesh," it, consistently, repudi- 
ates any supernatural power as its author and gives all 
the glory to the "flesh." Such is Campbellite faith. 
The latter — Scriptural or saving faith, moves, lovingly 
in obedience to God, being of God, it consistently gives 
to Him all the glory. Glanced at, with the carnal eye, 
these two faiths seem the same. Examined by the 
sight, received from on high, these faiths are seen to 
be no more alike than "flesh" and "Spirit," than Sa- 
tan and God. Hence, unbelief, everywhere, in Scrip- 
ture, is charged to a wicked heart ; faith to a good 
heart. See Matt. 13:58; 9:24; Rom, 11:20; Heb, 



494 



CAMPBELL ISM REPUDIATES 



3:12,19; Luke 12:46; 2 Cor. 6:14; Tit, 1:15; Rev. 
21:8; Mark 16:16; John 3:15, 16, 18, 34; 5:24; 12 : 
46; 1 John 5:1; 1 Cor. 13 :7. See an extended ex- 
planation of this in ''Old Testament Ethics Vindi- 
cated" pp. 67-86 — by the author of this book. This 
is why faith renders its possessor acceptable to God 
while disbelief damns him. In the language of Joseph 
Parker, D. D. : "But, to me, faith is reason glorified ; 
faith is the sublimest action of the soul; .... faith 
is inspiration ; faith is the very life of the soul; faith 
is the hand that lays hold on God. And its human 
side is as beautiful as its divine aspect ; it moves the 
heart to grand philanthropies ; fits kind eyes are ever 
more moved with the truest tenderness, when they look 
on sin and misery, helplessness and despair. True 
faith drives out selfishness ; true faith stirs to sacrificial 
action; trne faith sees in every man the image of God. 
Faith without works is dead" — i. e., not real or genu- 
ine — "being alone. Works come after faith, as the 
effect comes after the cause. Where there are no 
works there is no faith, 4 for as the body without the 
spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead.' " — In- 
gersoll Answered, p. 97. "Faith is the deepest, wid- 
est, noblest expression and exercise of the intellectual 
and moral nature of man." — Idem. Here read Heb., 
Chapter XI. 

"Faith is a precious grace 
Where'er it is bestowed; 
It boasts a high, celestial birth, 
And is the gift of God." 

May the unsaved soul who reads this, here cry : 



f As Campbellites say that baptism is as important as faith, 
try reading this by substituting baptism for faith ! 



SCRIPTURAL REGENERATION . 



495 



"Author of faith, to thee I lift 

My weary longing eyes ; 
Ah, may I now receive that gift; 
My soul without it dies." 

Section IV. The order o/time in which regenera- 
tion, repentance and faith take place. 

I. From what has been said, in this Chapter, on 
the origin and the nature of repentance and faith, that 
they are the consequential effects of regeneration is cer- 
tain. Hence we know that regeneration precedes them. 
Scripturally reads the New Hampshire Confession 
of Faith: "We believe" the "proper evidence" of re- 
generation "appears in the holy fruits of repentance 
and faith and newness of life." "We believe that re- 
pentance and faith are sacred duties and inseparable 
graces, wrought in our souls by the regenerating Spirit 
of God."— Arts. VII and VIII. Also, Chapter XIV 
of the Philadelphia Confession of 1689, and Sec. XXII 
of the London Confession of 1646. 

II. Repentance precedes faith. 

1. That repentance should take place before faith 
their very nature and relation to salvation require, (a) 
Repentance, being the sinner's turning from Satan to 
God, from sin to righteousness — the sinner's loving 
surrender, it must precede the act which makes the 
sinner a child of God. Otherwise the sinner would 
be made a child of God before he had turned from 
Satan to God, from sin to righteousness. Faith, being 
the act by which the sinner becomes a child of God, 
must, therefore, act after repentance has been exer- 
cised. Of course, both repentance and faith are be- 
gotten in re-generation. But, as some members of a 
body in the womb develop before others, so, in the 
womb of grace, repentance is first developed. Who- 
ever claims to believe repentance precedes baptism, 



496 



CAMPBELLISM REPUDIATES 



and that baptism is the last step into salvation in that 
very claim teaches that repentance precedes the act by 
which a sinner becomes a child of God. Likewise,those 
who believe that faith is the last step into salvation 
believe that it is preceded by repentance. 

(6) Faith cannot take place before repentance has 
been exercised. How can one who is in love with sin, 
so as to not have repented, lovingly, cast himself into 
the arms of a holy Savior, to be saved? The thought 
of the act is preposterous ! Hence, everywhere, the 
Scriptures represent the impenitent as hating God, 
going from him or crying, in despair, "to the moun- 
tains and to rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the 
face of him that sitteth on the throne." — Rev. 6 : 16. 
So Jesus says: " And ye . . . did not even repent 
yourselves afterward that ye might believe him." — 
Matt. 21 : 32.* Pisteusai — neareixjou — is infinitive, 
(1st aorist) and, "added" to the clause "did not even 
repent yourselves afterwards," is ecbatic — i. e., — it 
expresses the "design" or end. — Winer's JV. T. 
Gram., p. 318. So the versions agree in rendering 
it "that" — i. e., in order that, "ye might believe." 
Well comments Adam Clarke, on this passage : "It is 
very difficult to get a worldly minded and self-right- 
eous man brought to Christ. f Examples signify little 
to him. Urge the example of an eminent saint, he is 

* Metemeleetheete — [lezeiiskjdrjze — is here used, in- 
stead of fjtez ajaeXo /iac — metamelomai . It expresses here the 
"beginning of a good" repentance. — Synonyms of the N. T , p. 
91 ; so BengeVs Harmony, Jeremy Taylor, G* W. Clarke, et. al. 

t You can easily get many of them into the water and into the 
u Church " This is how Campbelhtes get their members from 
the world. 



SCKIPTURAL REGENERATION. 



497 



discouraged. Show him a profligate sinner converted 
to God, him he is ashamed to own and follow; and, 
as to the conduct of the generality of the followers of 
Christ, it is not striking enough to impress him." % 

(c) In those New Testament passages in which the 
words, repent, and repentance, are used, faith is always 
understood to follow repentance. (1) ' 'Repent and 
be baptized every one of you." — Acts 2 :38 (a) To 
locate repentance after the faith, here implied, is to lo- 
cate faith before the conviction, of v. 37, (b) is to lo- 
cate faith before the conviction of the Spirit. — John 
16 :8. As Campbellites claim that the Spirit convicts 
only through the unaided truth they would thus have 
faith wholly independent of the word ! Campbellites 
must, therefore, concede that, on Pentecost, repentance 
preceded faith, (c) Inasmuch as the persons have not 
believed before conviction, of v. 37, and before re- 
pent, of v. 38, and are not to believe after baptism, 
of v. 38, they must believe between repent and "bap- 
tized" — repentance before faith, (d) The object of 
their faith, being introduced just after repent, — "the 
name of Jesus Christ," v. 38 — as B. H. Carroll, D.D. 
well says, implies faith just after repentance. (e) 
Verse 41: "They then that received his word were 
baptized," clearly implies previous repentance. Why? 
Simply because to receive (first) the word is to accept 
Christ by faith. "But as many as received him, to 
them he gave the right to become children of God, 
even to them that believe on his name." — John 1: 
12. Tholuck : "The condition or mediation of the 



X Every case of "mourners" not being able to believe has its 
explanation in this. Though often in great trouble and almost 
despair some sin is, or some sins are secretly hidden in the heart 
as the hindrance to their trusting in Christ. 



498 



CAMPBELLISM REPUDIATES 



new birth is faith." — in I. Tois pisteaosin — ro?c 
TciGTzbootv — is explanatory of "as many as received 
him" — "to those who believe." Verse 13 farther ex- 
plains "as many as received him." See John 3:33; 
17:8; Acts 8 : 14 ; 11:1: Eom. 1:5; 5: 11; 8:15; 
Gal. 1:9; 3:2; Philip.4:9; Col. 2:6; 1 Thess. 2:13; 
2 Thess. 2 :10; Matt. 7 :8 ; 10 :40 ; John 12 :48. These 
Scriptures clearly show that receiving Christ, His 
word, His gospel is, by faith becoming children of 
God. (Second) Accordingly, Acts 2 :41 places bap- 
tism immediately after faith — received the word. 
This necessitates the location of repentance before re- 
ceiving the word — faith. 

(2) "But when they believed Philip . . . they were 
baptized," Acts 8:12. This records baptism as im- 
mediately after faith. No room here for, nor intimation 
of repentance between believing and being baptized. 

(3) "If thou believest with all thy heart thou 
mayest" be baptized ; "and he answered and said, I 
believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and he 
commanded the chariot to stand still, and he baptized 
him." — Acts 8 :37. The only condition of baptism to 
the Eunuch was faith. Had he not before repent- 
ed this would have been baptism before or without re- 
pentance. 

(4) "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou 
shalt be saved." — Acts 16 :30. Not a word about re- 
pentance. 

( 5 )"To him give all the prophets witness, that through 
his name every one that believeth on him shall re- 
ceive remission of sins." — Immediately after follow 
the gift of the Holy Ghost and baptism. — Acts 10 :43- 
47. In verses 1,4, Cornelius is called a "devout," 
God-fearing man; shown to be in communion with 



SCRIPTURAL REGENERATION. 



499 



God, in that his works were accepted. Compare this 
with Rom. 8:7, 8. See the chapter of this book on 
Total Depravity. So he had repented before Peter 
saw him. In his case repentance clearly precedes 
faith. Compare Acts 11:8; 15 :8, 9. 

( 6 ) 6 'Many of the Corinthians hearing believed and 
were baptized." — Acts 18 :8. No room for repentance 
between their* faith and baptism. 

(7) Turning back to the Old Testament, we have 
Abraham saved by faith, as the last step which brings 
him into salvation. Compare Gen. 15 :5, 6; Rom. 
4:3. 

( 8 ) The Scriptures which prov e that the penitent 
is saved by faith; that we are the children of God by 
faith, incontestably prove that faith, is the final step 
into Christ. See Chapter XIII, of this book, the part 
of it on saved by faith. 

Why is not repentance mentioned in the cases of the 
jailor, the eunuch — in the vast array of Scriptures 
which present faith as the last step into Christ? Sim- 
ply because repentance is implied as previously taking 
place. In such cases as the jailer, the tender washing 
of the stripes of Paul and Silas, contrasted with the 
heartless manner with which, a few hours previous, he 
had treated them, proved him heartily ashamed and 
sorry, and to have heartily repented of sin. (a) As 
faith makes us the children of God; (b) as the argu- 
ments on Acts 2 :38, 41, leave no room for implied re- 
pentance after faith, this cannot be gainsaid by replv- 
ing: ' 'So we infer repentance to be implied after 
faith." (d) Wherever the New Testament mentions 
repentance and faith, it mentions repentance first. 

(1) "Repent ye and believe the Gospel." — Mark 
1:15. 



500 



CAMPBELLISM REPUDIATES 



(2) " Did not repent yourselves afterward, that ye 
might believe."— Matt. 21:32. 

(3) "John baptized with the baptism of repent- 
ance, saying unto the people that they should believe 
on him."— Acts 19 :4. 

(4) Speaking of a ministry, covering about three 
years (Dr. B. H. Carroll) Luke records that Paul was 
"testifjdng both to Jews and Greeks repentance 
toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." 
-—Acts 20:21. See Adam Clarke on this passage. 
Surely, nothing is plainer than are these, last three 
Scriptures. 

Objections. 

1. Campbellites say the argument which is based 
on the mentioned order of words, puts salvation after 
baptism, in Mark 16 :16. (1) Be it so. But, as we 
have proved that baptism is only a figure, it is sj^mbolic 
of salvation which faith procured. (2) As Christ 
did not say he that is not baptized shall be damned, we 
retain the order and have Campbellism welcome to any 
support it can derive from it. Here turn and read the 
answer to the Campbellites on this passage, near the 
close of Chapter XIII, of this book. "Baptism natu- 
rally precedes* salvation in its" final sense — its testing 
sense. 

2. The Ninevites believed before repenting. — Jonah 
3. (1) Their repentance was only a national repent- 
ance. Jonah said nothing of the salvation of the 
soul; the Mnevites expressed nothing concerning the 
salvation of the soul; and verses 4, 9, show that their 
only concern was for a national salvation. Nations 
have often turned from great national wickedness with- 
out having the repentance which saves the sold. No- 
where in the Bible are these Ninevites afterwards recog- 



SCRIPTURAL REGENERATION. 



501 



nized as of Abraham's character. (2) Admitting that 
their repentance and faith are what are under discus- 
sion, the account proves that, in their case repentance 
precedes faith. 4 6 And God saw their works, that they 
turned from their evil way; and God repented of the 
evil which he said he would do to them." — v. 10. 
Here, in harmony with the whole Bible, instead of 
"works' 5 being repentance — as Mr. Wilmeth and 
other Campbellites have it — they are the "fruit worthy 
of repentance'* — its evidence — Matt. 3:8. 

3. As to Simon Magus being commanded to repent 
after he had "believed," in the latter part of Chapter 
XIV, I have proved his faith was not genuine. 

4. Luke 6:48; Acts 10:39, where the building of 
the house is said to have been before the foundation 
was laid, and where Jesus is said to have been slain be- 
fore he was crucified, are used to show that the order 
of the words signify nothing. But, in reply, I have 
only to say that the Bible Union and the New Versions, 
by correctly rendering the Greek, show that the Camp- 
bellite use of these passages is based on ignorance. 
Yet, Mr. Burnett, a leading Campbellite editor, used 
this argument ! 

5. "No one can repent unless he believes there is a 
God, and that the Bible is true, etc." In reply to 
this, I have only to say that such an action of the 
mind, being that of wicked men and of demons, 
proves only that an Ingersollite cannot repent. JVb 
one denies that such "faith" jyrecedes repentance. And 
here : — 

Be it noted, that Campbellites, knowing notii- 
i>s g of saving, — Scriptural faith, in reality, 
there is no discussion between them and Baptists 
as ro the order of repentance and faith. 



502 



CAMPBELLISM REPUDIATES 



While Campbeilites seem to be discussing the 
same question, they are discussing the relation of an 
ungodly faith to repentance, while Baptists are dis- 
cussing the relation of a godly faith. The relations 
of an ungodly and a godly faith to repentance are 
wholly different questions. And, more: Campbell- 
ites are discussing the relation of an ungodly faith to 
reform, while Baptists are discussing the relation of 
godly faith to repentance. 

6. ' 'Whatsoever is not of faith is sin." — Rom. 
14:23. Tholuck comments: ' fc This passage must be 
expounded in connection with the preceding context. 
Only in proportion to the measure of our knowledge 
respecting anything are we chargeable with it." — in I. 
Bloomfield : 6 'For whatever is not done with a full per- 
suasion that it is lawful, is unlawful, is sinful." — So 
Bengel, Adam Clarke, Matt. Henry, Scott, etc. But 
what has this to do with repentance, which the sinner 
knows to be right? Take the passage according to 
the Campbellite interpretation, and, as some are so 
disbelieving as to disbelieve the Bible is true, it would 
prove it sinful for them to either hear or read it ! ! 

7. In his reply to Ray's Text Booh, Mr. Hand — 
pp. 158-160 — presents Acts 11:21, where believing 
precedes turning ; then presents Acts 15 :19 ; 26 :18 ; 
14:15; 2 Cor. 3:16; 1 Thess. 1:9; Acts 9:35, 
where turning to God is to receive remission. His ar- 
gument seems to be that they believed before they 
turned ; they turned to receive remission ; turning fol- 
lows repentance; therefore faith precedes repentance. 
My reply is, (a) in some cases turning enearpiipm is 
applied to the turning of the saved to an improvement 
of their minds and lives, as in the case of Peter — 
compare Matt. 16 :16, 17, with 1 Cor. 2 :14 ; 12:3, 13 ; 



SCRIPTURAL REGENERATION. 



503 



1 John 5:1, which prove that Peter was regenerated 
when Matt. 16 :16, 17 occurred ; — then read Luke 22 : 
32, where Peter was promised conversion or to be 
"turned again," as the New Version has it. Epistre- 
pho is the Greek in this and the passages Mr. Hand 
adduces. (6) Acts 11:21 may mean that after 
repentance and faith they — as turning always follows 
repentance or change of mind, or its manifestation — 
turned to live right. This is the order in all conver- 
sions. Or as, in rare cases, the order of words, for 
the sake of emphasis, is changed, it may be here 
changed, to emphasize believed. — Winer's N~. T. 
Gram, (c) In the five other passages, adduced, — 
Acts 14:15; 15 :19 ; 9 :35; 2 Cor. 3:16; 1 Thess. 1:9 
— there is not a word as to where faith occurred, (d) 
And Acts 26:18 locates faith after repentance and 
turning ; for it says, "that they may receive remission 
of sins and an inheritance .... by faith in me." — 
e*c — into me. Hackett, of the words, "by faith 
into me," says, they "specify evidently the condition 
by which believers obtain the pardon of sin and an in- 
terest in the heavenly inheritance, iff tao pivots (them 
that are sanctified) is added merely to indicate the 
spiritual nature of xkfjpov" (inheritance.) — inl. Ben- 
gel : "ncaree, by faith, construe with Aafielv — that they 
may receive [not with -fjycafievot<z 9 sanctified."] — inl. 
Baumgarten, on this passage: "By faith Jews and 
Gentiles receive . . . forgiveness of sins." — Apost. 
Hist., Vol. 3, p. 161. So Meyer, Adam Clarke, Matt. 
Henry, Beza, Scott, et al. 

( y e)Epistrepho sometimes includes repentance and faith 
— the whole of turning to Christ. Thus it is used in 
1 Thess. 1:9; Jas. 5:19, 20; 1 Pet. 2 : 25— rendered 
in the Common Version, "turned," "convert," "con- 



504 



CAMPBELLISM REPUDIATES 



verteth," " are returned.' ' "Turn," ''turned" indi- 
cate nothing, as to where repentance and faith occur. 
(f) By passing over the many passages in which re- 
pentance is clearly located before faith and at- 
tempting to prove by these that faith precedes repent- 
ance,]^. Hand does two things ; first, he tries to array 
Scripture against Scripture — the infidel practice ; sec- 
ond, he shows that he is in a bad cause. 

Having answered the objections, as my final argu- 
ment FOR REPENTANCE PRECEDING FAITH I As A RULE 

the order of words states the order of whatever they 
speak of. This is true in all languages concerning all 
things. Thus first, second, third, etc., are irreversible. 
The young, the old — irreversible. Jan., Feb., March, 
etc., — irreversible. The Campbellite, in discussion 
with Pedo-rantists, believes, emphatically, in the or- 
der of the words. He argues that the New Testament 
always locates baptism after believing ; therefore, in- 
fant baptism is unlawful. The next day, he meets a 
Baptist and, presto ! "the order of words decides noth- 
ing!" 

"He wriggles in, and wriggles out, 
And leaves the people still in doubt, 
Whether the snake that made the track, 
Was going in or coming back.** 

But Grammar has settled that "The arrangement of 
words of a sentence is, in general, determined by the 
order in which the conceptions are formed, and by the 
specific relations which the different parts of the sen- 
tence bear to each other." — JST. T. Gram., p. 546. 
So Kuhner, Bengel, on Matt. 22:33 ; Luke 9:28. 
For emphasis, these authorities tell us that words 
are, in rare cases, reversed. So, as exceptional, — 
as in John 3 : 5 — baptism appears before the new 
birth; so "faith" may, as exceptional, be written be- 



SCRIPTURAL REGENERATION. 



505 



fore repentance. But, as I have shown that the New 
Testament almost, if not invariably, writes repentance 
before faith, and it has settled their order beyond can- 
did and reasonable discussion. If it has not, any one 
may prove anything from the New Testament. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

PASSIVITY AND ACTIVITY IN REGENERATION, IN THE 
NEW BIRTH, IN REPENTANCE AND FAITH. 

2. In regeneration the soul is passive — except its 
being active against God. 

(a) Dead in sin ; (b) hating God; (c) not discern- 
ing or receiving the things of the Spirit : (d) the gen- 
erated not active in its own generation; (e) the seed 
— the word necessarily having to germinate before it 
moves the soul ; (f) life precedes all activity, — these 
six things make it clear that in regeneration the soul is 
passive — as morally passive as it was naturally passive 
in its first generation. This is the only philosophical, 
scientific and Scriptural view of the subject. Com- 
pare Eom. 8:5-8; 1 Cor. 1:14; 2 :1 ; John 1 :11-13;1 
John 5 :1 and the Chapters of this book on Total De- 
pravity and the Operation of the Spirit. 

As Andrew Fuller well wrote: "The prayers of 
the Apostles and primitive ministers did not arise from 
the pliableness of men's tempers, or the suitableness 
of the gospel to their dispositions, but from the power 
of Almighty God attending their ministrations. — 2 
Cor. 10:4; Acts 1:14; 2 Thess. 3:1. "God bestows 



506 



PASSIVITY AND ACTIVITY 



converting grace "without any respect to moral quali- 
ties."— Works of Fuller, Vol. 2, p. 464, 465. "But 
in reference to the work of the Spirit itself, if its suc- 
cess does depend upon the pliability of the creature, 
then, so far, salvation is not of grace; for the very 
turning point of the tvhole affair is owing to the crea- 
ture." — Idem, p, 516. (My italics). See anecdote 
of the Bishop of London, in note to "4" of Sec. II 
of the Chapter on the work of the Spirit. As Ander- 
son remarks on the theory of a holy disposition being 
before regeneration : "The word would be at best only 
the aliment of a new life, which was communicated 
independently of it; whereas, it is declared to be the 
life-giving, generative spiritual seed." — Anderson on 
Regeneration, p. 157. The immortal Milton well 
wrote : — 

"Grace 

Comes unpretended, unimplored, unsought, 
Happy for man so coming. He her aid 
Can never seek, once dead in sins and lost.*'' 

2. Man passive and active in repentance, faith and 
the new birth. Though regeneration and the new 
birth are generally regarded identical, philosophy, 
science and the Scriptures necessitate that we regard 
them widely distinct. The same distinction here 
exists which exists between natural generation and 
birth. The implanting of the word — the seed — and 
its germinating in man is generation. Its development 
into life before the world is its birth. Previous to this 
life before the world, like the physical embryo, it is 
unseen. Its subject will often try to conceal its pres- 
ence, incommon parlance, "concealing his convictions." 
As this spiritual embryo grows, like the physical, it 
becomes active as well as passive ; moves in the — figu- 
ratively speaking — womb of grace. Its first movement 



IN REGENERATION. 



507 



is repentance. The seed — the word — having been, by 
the Holy Spirit, developed into the embryo, moves in 
the act of repentance. Julius Muller : "Holy Script- 
ure teaches that the pains preceding the birth of true 
piety, are the Godly sorrow for sin and conflict against 
it, which are included in the word iiizavota" (repent- 
ance.) — Christian Doctrine of Sin, vol. 7, p. 14. 
This is mysterious. Well may Eccl. 11:5 be applied 
to this spiritual embryo : "As thou knowest not what 
is the way of the wind" — marginal rendering of the 
new version reads, better, "Spirit" — nor how the 
bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child , 
even so thou knowest not the work of God." While 
a child in embryo not a child in the outward world. 
Repentance being sufficiently developed, by the power 
of the Spirit, the spiritual embryo believes, emerges 
into open life, comes with the "cry" of praise to God 
for redeeming grace. This is the birth — "Sons of 
God Through Faith in Christ Jesus."— Gal. 3 :27. 
Reviewing this, from spiritual re-generation to spiritual 
birth, we have repentance, as the fhvt movement, faith 
as the birth movement. Partly passive, partly active 
in the whole matter of repentance and faith. But the 
line between passivity and activity as impossible to 
draw as between passivity and activity in the growth 
and the birth of the physical embryo. We can only 
praise the God of grace for the reality of the great 
mystery. — Eccl. 11 :5. So the figure is continued, — 
"as new born babes, long for the spiritual miW — the 
simplest nourishment, drawn from our mother — grace. 
1 Pet. 2:2; 1 Cor. 3:20. 



508 



CAMPBELLISM IS 



CHAPTER XIX. 



CAMPBELLISM IS "SALVATION" BACKWARDS. 

Campbellites vauntingly reply : "If we are saved 
without baptism, saved without works and regenerated 
without repentance, there is no need of baptism, of 
works, of repentance — of anything." To this I reply : 

1. As to why repent, believe, if regeneration pre- 
cedes. Repentance and faith are necessary :(a)because 
repentance and faith are right. The "old man" — the 
"old" nature would not repent and believe, because 
repentance and faith are right ; the "new man" — the 
"new" nature repents and believes, for the reason 
that the "old man" would not repent and believe, 
because they are right. As well ask : "Why repent 
and believe, after we were made Christians, when w T e 
do wrong," as to ask, "Why, in this case, repent and 
believe after regeneration." (b.) The "old man" — 
the "old" nature would not repent and believe because 
he, by nature, was opposed to repentance and faith. 
The "new man" — the "new" nature — repents and 
believes for the reason that the "old man" w r ould not 
— because he has a good nature. ( d. ) With as much 
reason can it be replied: "If the physical child is 
already generated, why grow and be born" as to reply, 
"why repent and believe, if previously regenerated." 
The physical and the spiritual natures spurn such 
questions as worse than nonsense. At the ignorance 
which would have the child generate itself or refuse to 



6 6 SALVATION' ' BACKWARDS . 



509 



grow and be born because it is already generated, they 
are appalled. 

Again, the reply is shifted: "If saved no necessity 
for repentance and faith." (a) To this, the above is 
a reply. But I add, (6) : Then you would not repent 
and believe if you did not have to do so, to be saved ! ! 
How can you, with this spirit, think yourself a Chris- 
tian? (c) No one is, in the Bible, called a saved one 
until after repentance and faith. Though there are 
no spiritual miscarriages or abortions, grace, as does 
the natural world, recognizes the child chielly after its 
birth. The spiritual embryo, while certain of birth, 
must be born before it enters upon bom — life — the life 
of its manifested existence. As certain things with 
the physical embryo necessitate its birth, repentance 
and faith, to procure remission of sin, etc., necessitate 
a birth of the spiritual embryo. The "new man" or 
new nature straightens up our account with God, which 
the "old" refused to do. As we are not "saved" until 
this account is "straightened up," etc., — the necessity 
of repentance and faith after re -generation, is very 
obvious. 

2. As to the design of life after birth, (a) As in 
nature, so in grace, the child acts, grows because it is 
a child, and not to become a child. (6) As in nature, 
so in grace, action is life manifested and developing, 
— growing, (c) As nature serves God — fulfills the de- 
sign of its existence, not that it may become existent, 
but because it is existent, so in grace, we serve God 
because we are saved and not to be saved. f "For we 

t In such passages as the following every true Christian is 
said to be already "saved" — John 4:14; 5:24; 6:47; Luke 7:50; 
Acts 2:47; (the Greek here is the saved) 1 Cor. 1 :18; 2 Cor. 2 :15; 
Eph. 2 :5 ; Tit. 3 :5. In the sense of the final victory — at death — 
we are also said to be saved. In an incidental sense some Script- 



510 



CAMPBELLISM IS 



are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good 
works, which God afore prepared that we should walk 
in them."— Eph. 2:10. "Elect . . . unto obedience." 
1 Pet. 1 :1,2. Just as a machine is repaired or made, 
— it is repaired or made for work. It does not work 
to be repaired or made. The restored from sickness 
works because he is well, and not to be made well. 
Everywhere is this great law: Action because of ex- 
istence ; action because adapted or fit for action, and 
not action to procure existence or adaptation or fitness 
of action.! "Ye are my friends if ye do the things I 
command } 7 ou" — not ye become my friends by doing 
them. — John 15 :15. "If ye love me ye will keep my 
commandments" — not keep my commandments in or- 
der to become lovers of me. — John 14: 15. "And 
hereby know we that we know him, if we keep his 
commandments !"— not hereby we become those who 
know him. — 1 John 2 :3. "He that saith I know him, 
and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the 
truth is not in him," (v. 4) — never did know him; 
but, probably, tried to know him by keeping the com- 
mandments, and calls it "falling from grace ! !" "For 
the love of Christ constraineth us" to live the Chris- 
tian life — not the fear of hell. 2 Cor. 5:14. "So 
then, my beloved, even as ye have always obeyed, not 
as in my presence only, but now much more in my ab- 
sence, work out your own salvation with fear and 
trembling" — here Arminians generally choke the 

ures represent this salvation as an object of the Christian life — 
as the object of those who in the other class of Scriptures are 
called saved Bat that has no bearing on the question before 
us, in this Chapter. 

t Though action develops and perpetuates life, it never gives, 
begets or restores lost life. 



"salvation" backwards. 



511 



Apostle from saying the remainder ; — "for it is God 
that worketh in you, both to will and to tvork, for 
his good pleasure" — not to be saved. — Philip. 2 : 12,13. 
But Campbellism reverses all of this. And, as a part 
of the Romish family, Campbellism is thus a system 
of "works," instead of grace, while trying to hold on 
to grace. 

Like all the Romish family, "being ignorant of 
God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their 
own," there is great reason to fear that but few, 
among the Campbellites, have submitted "themselves 
to the righteousness of God." — Rom. 10 : 3. The great 
need of the world is to know that we live Christians 
because we are Christians and not to become Chris- 
tians ; that we live and act because we are alive and 
not to be made alive ; that we live for God because we 
are saved and not to be saved. 

"My God Hove thee; not because 

I hope for heaven thereby, 
Nor yet because who love Thee not 

Must burn eternally. 
Then why, O blessed Christ, 

Should I not love Thee well? 
Not for the hope of winning heaven, 

Nor of escaping hell; 
Not with the hope cf gaining naught, 

Not seeking a reward ; 
But as Thyself hast loved me, 

O, ever loving Lord, 
So would I love Thee, dearest Lord, 

And in Thy praise will sing, 
Solely because Thou art my God, 

And my eternal King." 



512 



UNIVERSAL AND PARTICULAR 



CHAPTER XX. 

UNIVERSAL AND PARTICULAR OPERATIONS OF THE 
HOLY SPIRIT. 

1. The universal call to Christ, and the universal 
operation of the Spirit. Such Scriptures as John 3 : 
16 ; Rev. 22 :17, clearly teach that the Gospel is of- 
fered to all, — where it is preached. So the Philadel- 
phia Confession of Faith, which w T as written A. D. 
1689, says: "The blessings of salvation are made free 9 
to all by the Gospel. . . . nothing prevents the salva- 
tion of the greatest sinner on earth, but his own de- 
termined depravity and voluntary rejection of the Gos- 
pel.'' — Chapter 7 So the New Hampshire Confes- 
sion — Chap. 6 — and the Confession of the "Seven 
Churches," of A. D. 1648. Partly because of this 
Baptist position, the Anti-mission Baptists separated 
from the Baptists. Baptists believe that while the 
atonement is designed to save the elect it is so rich and 
fragrant with holiness that it is — 

"Enough for one, enough for all, 
Enough for every one." 

Baptists urge upon all the immediate duty and the 
privilege of being saved. Acts 17 :30 ; Prow 1 ; John 
5:40; 10:10; Tsa. 55:6, 8; Ezek. 18:23, 19, etc. 

Baptists believe that the Holy Spirit touches all 
hearts: — "There was the true light even the light 
which lighteth every man that cometh into the world." 
— John 1:9, Compare Gen. 6:3; John 16:8, 9; 



OPERATIONS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 



513 



Acts 7:51; Heb. 3:7, 8; 6:4-9, with Num. 23:5- 
13; 24:2, 10-13; 31:3-8. 

2. Baptists believe there is a particular call. 
"Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of 
the world." — Eph. 1 :4. "As many as were ordained 
unto eternal life believed." — Acts 13:48. "I have 
much people in this city." — Acts 18 : 10. "/have left 
for n^self seven thousand who have not bowed the 
knee to Baal. Even so at this present time there is a 
remnant according to the election of grace." — Rom. 
11 :4, 5. "That which Israel seeketh after, that he ob- 
tained not; but the election obtained it." — Rom. 11 :7. 
SeePsa. 110:3; Isa. 49:7; 53:11: John 10:11, 15; 
14,16,4,26, 27; 6:39; Eph. 5:25; Matt. 1:21; 
John 17:9; 1 Pet. 1:2, 19, 20; Rev. 13:8; 17 :8, e£ 
mul al. 

3. The general and the particular call. The Phil- 
adelphia Confession of Faith, says: "Those whom 
God hath predestinated unto life he is pleased ... to 

effectually call by his word and Spirit by no 

less power than that which raised up Christ from the 
dead. . . . Others . . . may be called by the minis- 
try of the word and may have some common opera- 
tions of the Spirit," but do not come. — Rom. 8:30; 
1:7; Eph. 1:3-11; 1 Pet. 1:1-2. Also, the New 
Hampshire Confession is substantially the same. 

(a) The general call is given in love and good faith. 
It is rejected in hatred and unbelief. 

(b) The particular call is accompanied with the re- 
generation by the Holy Spirit. The parable of the 
Great Supper illustrates these two calls. Both (a) calk 
were in love and good faith. (b) The general 
call secured no one to the supper, (c) Their not 
coming was their own fault, (d) The particular 



514 OPERATIONS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 

call was accompanied with great urgency — (The word 
rendered compel or restrain dvayxd^co, to influence by 
strong urgency ; but dyyapeuco expresses compel against 
the will) "bring ," "compel." (e) The particular 
call filled the places at the table, (f ) Why the par- 
ticular call was so urgently carried out was not the 
business of the servants to know. So of the two gos- 
pel calls. Luke 14 :16-24. Scott comments : "The 
whole parable may be applied to the preaching of the 
Gospel, and the reception which it meets with in every 

age It shows that the objections against the 

doctrine of 'special grace,' as if inconsistent with free 
agency are wholly groundless ; unless the inward bless- 
ing of God, on proper means*, producing willingness 
where it did not exist before, inclining the heart, and 
so preventing us that we may have a good will, be 
more inconsistent with free agency, than urgent and 
pressing invitations to a feast. Psa. 110:3; Philip. 
2 ;12, 13."— inl. So Matt. Henry. God decided to 
offer salvation to a lost world. AsBengelsays : "Nee 
natura nec gratia patitur vacuum " — neither nature or 
grace admits of a vacuum. — Isa. 53 rll.f As all men 
would reject salvation, He provided, by election, to re- 
generate some, so that they would willingly come. 

"He drew me and I followed on, 
Rejoiced to own the call divine." 



t Every prayer to "break down the sinner's stubborn will" 
presumes special grace. When on his knees every true Chris- 
tian prays the special grace doctrine. He then prays for sinners 
what Mr. Wesley said of some cases: "The overwhelming pow- 
er of saving grace for a time works as irresistibly as lightning 
falling from heaven." — Ser. on Begeriei ation. Gen 19 :14-22 illus- 
trate the necessity of special grace to save us from Sodom, and 
how it is bestowedc 



CAMPBELLISM IS INFIDELITY. 



515 



CHAPTER XXI. 

CAMPBELLISM IS GUITEAUISM AND INFIDELITY UPON 
THE SINNER'S RESPONSIBILITY AND THE 
MYSTERIES OF GRACE. 

1. Campbellites object: ''If man is totally de- 
praved he is not responsible." Bearing in mind what 
total depravity is — See beginning of the Chapter in 
this book on Total Depravity, — I reply : 

(1) Then you will not only be a sinner, but justify 
yourself because you are so heinous a sinner ! ! ! 

(2) If the objection is well grounded, all that one 
has to do, to save his neck, when he desires to mur- 
der, is to get so drunk as to "not know" what he is 
doing ! 

(3) If the objection is well grounded, God is un- 
just in punishing the devil and demons, since they are 
totally depraved. 

(4) If the objection is well grounded, the last sin- 
ner can, in hell, redeem himself by becoming what 
Campbellites call "totally depraved."!! For when 
he reaches that point, as he will then be no longer 
"responsible" his punishment would be unjust. A 
new plan of salvation ! ! I commend this to the "new 
theology." 

(5) If the objection is well taken, since the more 
depraved one is, the less his responsibility; the most 
heinous sinners will fare much easier in the Judg- 
ment at the hand of Justice than will those not so bad ! 

(6) The objection makes Campbellism present 



516 



CAMPBELLISM INFIDELITY 



Guiteau's plea for acquittal for murdering Garfield. 
His attorney claimed that he was so crazy or wicked as 
to not be responsible. 

(7) All Scripture recognizes the worst of sinners 
— even the devil and demons — responsible. 

(8) So do human courts. The only question is 
whether the sinner and the criminal know right and 
wrong. If so, they are responsible. In the trial of 
Guiteau, Judge Cox decided that, "The one test of 
criminal responsibility" is "whether the prisoner pos- 
sessed the mental capacity at the time the act was 
committed to know that it was wrong, or whether he 
was deprived of that capacity, by mental disease. 
There was one important distinction which the jury 
must not lose sight of, and they must decide how far 
it was applicable to this case : that was, the distinction 
between moral and mental obliquity, between mental 
incapacity to distinguish between right and wrong, and 
moral insensibility to that distinction." In his ad- 
dress on the case, Mr. Davidge read the following, well 
settled tests of responsibility: "1. Whether the ac- 
cused at the time of committing the alleged act knew 
the difference between right and wrong in respect to 
such act ... that is, if he knew what he was doing 
and that what he was doing was contrary to the law 
of the land. 2. If the accused knew what he was 
doing . . . even if it were true that when he commit- 
ted the act he really believed he was producing a pub- 
lic benefit or carrying out an inspiration of divine 
origin or approval, such belief would not afford any 
excuse ; nor would such excuse be afforded by the fact 
that he in the commission of the act was impelled 
by a depraved moral sense — whether innate or ac- 
quired, or by evil passion or indifference to moral 



OlST SALVATION BY GKACE. 



517 



obligation. 3. Insanity would* however, constitute 
a defense if by reason of the disease, the accused, at 
the time of committing the act charged, did not 
know what he was doing; or if he did not know it, 
that what he was doing was contrary to law." At this 
point, Guiteau yelled out the Campbellite-infidel plea 
that is made for the sinner : 6 'I had no choice in the 
matter." So Davidge read from the Judges of En- 
gland; (excepting Chief Justice Mall, and he must 
have been an infidel or a Campbellite" ) ' 'one Ameri- 
can case after another sustaining his point." But, no 
one urges that the sinner does not know right and 
wrong.t Paul says that, to a great extent, heathen 
people know this, — See Eom. 1 : 18-32 — and that 
they are "ivithont excuse." Upon moral responsibility 
Campbellism is, therefore, Guiteauism. 

2. Campbellism objects: ' 'Total depravity takes 
away free will." To this I reply: (1.) Free will is 
"the power of resolving and acting otherwise." — 
Midler's Christian Doctrine of /Sin, vol. 2, p. 26. 
"Choice is to be found w r herever volition, with the ex- 
press consciousness of other possibilities exists." — 
idem, p. 32. (2.) In the language of Muller : "That 
man is free who can do what he wills. . . The strength 
of the will is thus its freedom. (3 ) Harless: "Will 
is the substance of" man's "being." — Christian Eth- 
ics, p. 18. (4) In exercising its freedom, "The will 
attracts to itself those thoughts and feelings which 
correspond to its central and germinating tendency. . 
.... and makes these the prevailing motives and 

t The recognition of Christ as the Savior of the ''deeper 
things'' of the Spirit is not necessary to moral responsibility. 
The Jews, millions recognize u right and wrong" hut do not rec- 
ognize Christ and the deeper things of the Spirit. 



518 



CAMPBELLISM INFIDELITY 



determining principles of the inner life which co- 
operate with it towards the given act." — Christian 
Doctrine of Sin, vol. 2, p. 53. Thus we think, feel, 
act as we please. (5.) So the courts decided on 
Guiteau— so the law decides on all. (6.) So the 
Divine Court. Everywhere the Scriptures speak of 
depravity as aggravating the guilt. See Matt. 3 :7 5 12 ; 
13-16; Acts 5:4; Rom. 3:8; 2 Pet. 2:3; Matt. 10: 
15 ; 11 : 2 1-24. (7.) Conscience ' 'itself testifies to the 
freedom of the human will, since it reckons to man's 
account whatever it testifies to, and equally whether it 
attests that his willing is directed to what is good or to 
what is bad." — Harless — Christian Ethics, p. 79. 
So Sir William Hamilton, William Lyall's "Intellect, 
Emotions, and Moral Nature," A. H. Strong, D. D., 
etc. See an able article by Dr. Strong, in Baptist 
Quarterly Review, vol. 5, N~o. 18. Sir William Ham- 
ilton sa} T s consciousness testifies to this freedom. (8,) 
In the language of Kant : "Every evil act, when we 
trace it to its origin in reason, must be contemplated 
as if the man had fallen into it direct from a state of 
innocence." — cited in Christian Doctrine of Sin, vol. 
2, p. 90. Thus, total moral depravity, aggravates 
instead of palliating the guilt of sin. True are Muller's 
words : "The demand so often made in our day, that 
the moral law must modestly retire before powerful 
natures, strong passions, complicated relations, and 
make way for them, does not spring from a healthy 
sentiment, but from a feeble deification of mere 
power." — idem, vol. l,p. 40. 

3. Suggested explanation of man's accountability. 
That total moral depravity is no excuse for sin, I have 
demonstrated. As to the explanation, God does not 
give it, nor does human law. The difficulty is as 



ON SALVATION BY GKACE. 



519 



applicable to the human as the Divine law. t The 
explanation probably is : We are by power of will able 
lo change our J life; but we are morally unable. 
That is, the will ca?i*change, but its moral nature, 
Hke the rogue's leads on — willingly — into sin. The 
Scriptures, by total depravity and responsibility, like 
human law, in such cases, imply something of this 
kind. See Andrew Fuller's Works, vol. 2, p. 480, 
481, 519-521. Theologians term it "natural" ability 
and "moral" inability. 

4. But Campbellism objects : "But God ought to 
have given the special call to all men." In answer to 
this, I ask : — 

(1) No more so than He "ought" to have called 
other than the Jews, under the old dispensation. 

(2) No more so than He "ought" to have given the 
gospel to all nations at the beginning of the Christian 
era. Yet some have never heard it. 



fHe who knows anything of the history of either Ethical or 
Theological thought, painfully knows that the reconciliation of 
maifs depravity and circumstances with his freedom and his 
responsibility, has never been fully discovered. Every school of 
Ethical and Theological thought unhesitatingly acknowledges 
that the harmony is undiscovered. Greg. : u It has scattered 
those who have tried to master it as widely as the .... tower 
of Babel. Some it has driven into atheism, some into Maniche- 
ism, some into the denial of the most obvious facts of life and 
nature, some into betrayals of the most fundamental principles 
of morality.*' Enigmas of Life, p. 1 7. Muller: k *Weisse rightly 
regards the conflict between freedom and necessity to be the 
main problem of philosophy in its immediate future." Christian 
Doctrine of Sin, vol. 2, p. 131. ' 

% This is the key to the meaning of the Scriptures which charge 
man with closing his eyes, ears, making his heart heavy, and re- 
sisting the Spirit. — Matt. 13:15; Isa. 6:10. 

*This — with conscience — is the receptivity to all kinds of truth 
and that upon which moral responsibility is based. — Rom. 1 : 
18-32. 



520 



CAMPBELLISM INFIDELITY 



(3) No more so than He "ought" to have arranged 
for all to have been born under the same moral influ- 
ences. 

(4) No more so than He "ought'' to have arranged 
for all to be civilized at the same time. 

(5) No more so than that He "ought" to have given 
all peoples the same climate, etc. 

(6) No more so than He "ought" to have arranged 
for all men to be presidents of the United States. 

(7) No more so than the man who made the Great 
Supper "ought" to have said "bring," "compel," 
"constrain" all of them to come. 

(8) No more so than you "ought" to bestow equal 
attention or favors upon all of your fellow-men. 

(9) He was not under obligation to do anything to 
save any one. (a) "Ought" as applied to God is 
profane and unphilosophical . He is under no obliga- 
tion to any one, whoever and wherever he may be. (6) 
Man, angels and devils are the only ones who "ought" 
(c) Free to do as we please, we are responsible for all 
we do. Sinners, we have no one to blame but our- 
selves, (d) The most innocent man is under no more ob- 
ligation to die for a murderer than was Christ to die for 
any sinner, (e) God was no more "obligated" to save 
one sinner than the law of our country to save the 
worst criminal, (g) To make God "obligated" places 
Him below law. He acts out His own holy, infinite 
nature. (A) So long as either sinner or criminal is, or 
has been, free to do what he pleases, neither Divine 
nor human law can excuse him for sin or crime ; much 
less "ought" to redeem him. (i) God being under no 
"obligation" to redeem one or excuse one* was under 
no "obligation" to redeem or excuse all. (j) His 
saving any one is of His own free and wise exercise of 



ON SALVATION BY GRACE. 



521 



mercy. Just as I am free to bestow gifts on whom I 
please, God is free f to bestow salvation on whom He 
pleases. (Jc) If T offer gifts to all; bring greater 
influence on so?ne than on others, to lead them to 
accept it, who but an enemy would find fault? So, 
who but an enemy of God can find fault with Him for 
offering salvation to all and, by great moral power, 
inducing some to accept it? Only an enemy ever found 
fault with the good man who made the Great Supper, 
because he filled the seats at supper by influencing 
some by stronger influence than he influenced others. 
(I) The doctrine that God was under ' ' obligation" to 
save all is that He was 6 'obligated" to save whom He 
does save. 

(m) The doctrine that He 4 'ought" to save any rests 
on the assumption that man could not be otherwise 
than a sinner — that he is not and never was free. For 
it presumes God ought to save because He placed man 
into and shut him in his helpless condition. 

(n) The doctrine that God "ought" to save man, 
therefore, presumes that God and not man is respon- 
sible for sin and crime! ! (May God save my soul 
from the pollution of writing such a thought, and the 
reader from reading it — even though it is the thought 
of objectors to God's special grace!) 

fKichard Watson, Methodist, concedes the principle: — "God 
has a right to elect whom He pleases to enjoy special privileges ; 
in this there is no unrighteousness.'' — Theol. Inst, part 2, Chap- 
26. Mr. Wesley: — "Not that I deny that there are exempt 
cases, wherein the overwhelming power of saving grace does for 
a time work as irresistible as lightning from Heaven. " — Sermon 
on "Regeneration. 1 ' Both these quotations are from "God Sover- 
eign and Mnn Free, by N. L. Rice, D. D. This puts the case even 
stronger than this book puts it. If one of the race is so converted 
then all the elect may be so converted. If in one thing God 
"elects to enjoy special privileges' ' so may He in all things. 



\ 



522 



CAMPBELLISM INFIDELITY 



(o) The doctrine that God 6 4 ought" to save any 
one is the doctrine of all infidelity and of devils. We 
know that infidels boldly claim that God is responsible 
and to blame for all that is wrong with us. As devils 
ever find fault with God and inspire wicked men to do 
as they do, no doubt that devils claim that special 
grace is injustice. 

(p) They doubtless urge that God's ways and spe- 
cial grace are injustice, first, because God has his "elect 
angels. " — 1 Tim. 5: 21. Second, that in providing 
salvation for man and not for devils that he is partial 
and unjust. Third, that in saving the Israelites and 
not the other nations that He is partial and unjust. 
Fourth, that in not giving the gospel to all men, in 
the first century, He is partial and unjust. Fifth, that 
in not giving all men the same climate, He is partial 
and unjust. Sixth, that in not ordaining that all chil- 
dren be born of good parents, in a Christian country 
and under comfortable and good care, He is partial and 
unjust. Seventh, that in not making all men the spe- 
cial subjects of His grace He is partial and unjust. 
Finally, to find as much fault as possible that, in mak- 
ing some animals to prey on others and not making 
animals candidates for immortal glory, He has partially 
and unjustly treated them. 

5. The "why" of special grace is not revealed. Mys- 
tery envelops us. Seemingly — no doubt not really 
so — contradictory are innumerable things in the natu- 
ral world, and some in the spiritual. Why God made 
pests and then made means for their destruction, is no 
more of a seeming contradiction to wisdom, than is the 
greatest seeming contradiction in the spiritual world to 
justice. The boy who, when his father pointed to the 
long legs of the crane as made to hunt the fish, wick- 



ON SALVATION BY GRACE. 



523 



edly replied : "But father, what of the fish?" is but 
poor feeble man objecting to special grace. Just "out 
of College" two "smart young men" boasted they 
would believe only what they could "reason out." 
When the old Quaker replied: "Tell me how, eating 
the same grass, drinking the same water, breathing 
the same air, under the same sunlight, hair grows on 
the hog's back and wool on the sheep's," they stood, 
only less fools than will poor, feeble, ignorant, fault- 
finding man before the great Judge. Paul says: "O 
man, who art thou that repliest against God?" — Rom. 
9 :20. And even Jesus said : "Yea, Father, for so it 
was well pleasing in thy sight," — Matt. 11:26. Too 
weak are we for God's greatest thoughts to be reveal- 
ed to us. As Muller remarks: "Apart from us, as 
the Apostle warns us (Rom. 11 :24) God may have 
His secret thoughts over and above those He makes 
known to us ; thoughts which shall not, perad venture, 
be fully revealed until His kingdom is far more widely 
developed, and perhaps not in their fullness even then. 
Thus for example before Christianity appeared, the 
purpose of the law must have appeared to human con- 
sciousness as having in itself a determinate end or 
purpose; but when faith came, it was manifest that in 
the circumstances of the human race at that time its 
true object was to be a pedagogue to teach Christ. . . 
In our present state, however, and before the close of 
the development of the human race there must ever 
be more or less uncertainty in our perception of the 
purposes of God, in particulars, at least, and so far as 
they have not been declared to us by God's revelation 
of Himself in Christ." — Christian Doctrine of Sin, 
Vol. 2, pp. 199, 200. God saves the best wine to 



CAMPBELLISM IS INFIDELITY. 



the last. Christianity follows Judaism ; heaven fol- 
lows earth; the light of eternity will follow the dark- 
ness of time.t Here we sing: 

"Why was I made to hear thy voice 
And enter while there's room, 
When thousands make a wretched choice, 
And rather starve than come? 
'Twas the same love that spread the feast, 
That sweetly forced us in ; 
Else we had still refused to taste, 
And perished in oar sins.'' 

The victory won heaven will sing : 

"They tru ted God was love indeed, 
And love creation's final law, — 
Though nature, red in tooth and claw 
With raven, shrieked against the creed." 

Campbellism is but an attempt to rationalize grace 
— to run with infidelity and hold with faith : — to, at 
the same time, wade the unfathomable ocean of rea- 
son, and be carried in the ship of faith. Like a wick- 
ed child, it spends its time finding fault with grace, in- 
stead of, with praising and singing, of special grace. 

"O for this love let rocks and hills 
Their lasting silence break, 
And all harmonious human tongues 
Their Savior's praises speak. " 

Instead of humbling the soul at the feet of its Mak- 
er, Campbellism seats it upon His judgment throne, to 
try Him. 

fAs Whittier writes : 

"Who fathoms the eternal thought? 
Who talks of scheme and plan? 
The Lord is God ! He needeth not 
The poor device of man. 

"I dimly guess from blessings known 
Of greater out of sight, 
And with the chastened Psalmist own 
His judgments too are right," 



CAMPBELLISM OPPOSED TO SORROW FOR SIN. 525 



CHAPTER XXII. 

CAMPBELLISM OPPOSED TO SORROW FOR SIN AND TO 
THE SINNER PRAYING. 

That Methodists abuse the doctrine of sorrow for sin, 
— and Baptists, too, in some cases, into almost penance 
is too true. Screaming, 6 'pounding the sinner on the 
back," making him believe he has so much mourning to 
do is as far from being Scriptural as is Campbellism. 
All the sorrow, necessary, is such as leads to repent- 
ance. But Campbellites ridicule a "feeling religion," 
and, hence, ridicule sorrow for sin. Says Alexander 
Campbell: "Speak we of a godly sorrow? No; this 
is not to be expected from unconverted and ungodly 
persons." — Christian System, p. 255. No ; of course 
not, if regeneration does not precede repentance. See 
chapter XVII, Sees. 1 and 2. But, as "Godly sor- 
row worketh repentance unto salvation," pray, how 
can the sinner repent without it? 2 Cor. 7:10. "It 
is worthy of notice that the apostles in all their 
speeches and replies never commanded an inquirer to 
pray, read or sing as a preliminary to coming ; but al- 
ways commanded or proclaimed immersion as the first 
duty to be done after belief of the testimony." — Mill. 
Harb. Extra No. 2, p. 35, quoted in Text Book on 
Campbellism, p. 145. Mr. Lard : "We assert now, 
as we have ever done, that there is not one passage in 
the Bible, which, during the reign of Christ, makes it 
the duty of an unbaptized person to pray. Mr. Jeter 
is greatly mistaken if he supposes wq cherish not this 



526 CAMPBELLISM OPPOSED TO SORROW FOR SIN 



as a capital item. . . . We do say, with singular em- 
phasis, that it is not the duty of the sinner, the un- 
baptized, to pray for remission of his sins ; that it is 
not made his duty to do so by the Bible, not even by 
implication." ' 'Of all the gross and fatal delusions of 
Protestants, there are few we can deem worse than 
this."— Lard's Review, pp. 173, 174 — quoted from 
Text Book on Gamp. p. 148. 

The American Christian Review, as quoted in the 
Am. Baptist Flag : — ' 'Peter, in his discourse, said 
nothing about a mourning bench, nothing about faith 
as a direct gift of God .... nothing about sensa- 
tional feelings as the evidence of pardon." Mr. 
Campbell scoffs: "Is there knowledge, faith, or re- 
pentance in a mourning-bench, or anxious board, a 
sheaf of straw or an altar of wood?" — Mill Harb., 
New Series, Vol. 5. p. 246 — quoted from Text Book 
on Campbellism p. 149. No, Mr. Campbell, there is 
not. Why not sneeringly ask the same of hymn 
books, meeting houses, organs, conveyances to meet- 
ing, religious newspapers, etc., etc. "What passage 
in the Bible mentions" all these? You, yourself, say: 
"Many things, indeed, that are of vital importance to 
the well-being and prosperity of the kingdom of 
Christ, are left to the law of expediency." — Christian 
System, pp. 91 , 92, 86. "Anxious seats," "arising 
for prayer," "inquiry rooms," "inquiry meetings," 
etc., etc., are only conveniences for getting the sinner 
where we may have better opportunity to teach him and 
lead him in praying and to Christ. The real objection 
is not to the ways or expediences, but to the mourning 
itself. But you say for the sinner to pray is unscrip- 
tural. In reply, 1, if the Campbellite theory of the 
"word only" is true, it is not only unscriptural, but 



AND TO THE SINNER PRAYING. 



527 



nonsensical. 2. If more than the "word only" — if 
the Holy Spirit, through the word, converts, it is both 
Scriptural and reasonable. 3. See the following Scrip- 
tures on mourning : — Job. 5 :11 ; Ezra 10 :1,6 ;Isa. 61 : 
1-3; 57:18; 22:12; Psa. 69:10; Psa. 51 ; Jer 31:18, 
19; Ezek. 7:16; Zech. 7 :5 ; Jonah 3 :5-10 ; Joel 2: 12, 
13; Matt/ 5: 4; Luke 10:13; 18: 13; 7:37, 38; 
Matt. 26:75; James 5:1. (a) But it is said some 
of these passages are ' 'under the Old Testament." 
True ; for as I have proved, men were saved then as 
now. (b) But it is said, some of these passages are 
concerning professors. True : and so much the more 
forcible; for if they ought to mourn, surely the sinner 
ought to mourn. 1 Cor. 14 :25, presents just the case 
at which Campbellites scoff most — viz., falling on 
the floor:— ''Tut if all prophesy, and there come one 
unbelieving or unlearned, he is reproved of all, he is 
judged by all ; the secrets of his heart are made man- 
ifest; and so he will fall down on his face and wor- 
ship God, declaring that God is among you indeed" — 
i. e., by the mighty outpouring of the Spirit. Peter 
told Simon to pray for himself. — Acts 8 :24. See 
Chapter XIV, ' ' 10." The publican prayed for him- 
self. Luke 10:13. The thief , on the cross, prayed 
for himself. Luke 23 :42. Jonah prayed for himself. 
Jonah 2:6, 7. 

Prayer is not, necessarily, words. As the poet has 
said : 

"Prayer is rhe soul's sincere desire, 

Unuttered or expressed. 
The motion of a hidden fire, 

That trembles in the breast. 
Prayer is the burden of a sigh, 

The falling of a tear, 
The upward glancing of an eye, 

When none but God is near." 



528 CAMPBELLISM OPPOSED TO SORROW FOR SIN. 

On the day of Pentecost were hundreds of mourn- 
ers, for we read, * 6 they were pricked in their heart;" 
and that they could not be still, but cried out, 6 4 what 
shall we do." Seeing, from their actions, that their 
hearts were too full — as we sometimes now see in 
meetings f — to need to be told to pray, — as Simon 
needed — and that they had given up all and were, 
therefore, saved, Peter commanded their baptism. 
They were not dry-eyed, unfeeling Campbellite ' 6 seek- 
ers." So of the earnest Eunuch; of the jailer. In 
fact, where one is sufficiently in earnest he does not 
need to be told to pray. The 6 'hidden fire" irresisti- 
bly bursts out. Every true Christian looks back to 
the time when : 

" Awakened by Sinai's awful sound 
My soul in guilt and thrall I found. 

And knew not where to go : 
Overwhelmed in sin, with anguish slain, 
The sinner must be born again, 

Or sink in endless woe. 
To the law I trembling fled, 
It poured its curses on my head, 

I no relief could find: 
This fearful truth increased my pain, 
The sinner must be born again, 

Overwhelmed my troubled mind." 

All others will weep w here their tears will mock 
them. See Luke 13:27-28; Matt. 22 : 12-13 ; 24:51. 
See the Chapter in this book on the fruits of Camp- 
bellism. 



t Kot in Campbellite meetings. 



CAMPBELLITES SCOFF AT PRAYING FOR SINNERS. 529 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

CAMPBELLITES SCOFF AT PRAYING FOR SINNERS. 

1. This is the logical sequence of the ' ' word alone' ' 
theory. If only the word influences the sinner, prayer 
for him is both un-scriptural and nonsensical. 

2. This position grows out of the Campbellite 
position on there being no mourning for the sinner 
etc., and no necessity of the sinner praying for himself. 

3. This position, every one who ever lived among 
Campbellites and attended their meetings, well knows 
is a Campbellite position. In my own meeting I have 
had Campbellites secretly tell the sinner that prayers 
for him are "nonsense,*' that he needed to be baptized 
the first thing. In Baptist, Methodist, or any Chris- 
tian meeting, it is, and has long been a practice by 
Campbellites to watch opportunities to persuade any 
anxious one, whom they could or can influence, into 
the water. Every true Christian can but thank God 
that the water delusion did not, when he was convicted, 
lead him from Christ into the water. 

(a) Abraham prayed for Sodom. — Gen. 19. (b) 
' ' Abraham prayed unto God : and God healed Abirni- 
lech ;"etc, Gen. 20: 17. (c) The case of the bitten Isra- 
elites illustrates the sinner. Moses prayed for the bitten 
Israelites. Num. 21:7-9. (d) Samuel prayed for the 
w T icked Jews. — 1 Sam. 7 :8, 9. (e) Job prayed for his 
miserable comforters. — Job 42 :8. (f) Prayer for the 
wicked was universally recognized among the prophets 
as a part of the prophet's dut}^ — Jer, 7:16. (h) 



530 



CAMPBELLITES SCOFF AT 



It was as universally recognized in the Apostolic 
churches. ' 'If any man see his brother sinning a sin not 
unto death, he shall ask and God will give him life for 
them that sin not unto death." — 1 John 5:16. This 
man — see Scott in loco — was not a true Christian, but 
a deceived soul, f But if he were a true Christian, 
that he should have some one pray for him, only im- 
presses deeper the need of prayer for one who is not 
a Christian. If any Campbellite, }^et, objects to Old 
Testament proof, Paul says: "Every Scripture in- 
spired of God is profitable for teaching," etc. — 2 Tim. 
3:15, 16. 

t A sinner or deceived soul may, and often does, fall from 
grace — U e. beyond its reach. — Gal. 5 :4. But, for the following 
reasons, a true Christian d< >es not . 1 . 1 If one may fall, so may 
all. Hence, Christ might have died in vain. 2. Election makes 
our saivation absolute^ certain. 3. Paul argues that if we were 
saved from a sinful state, "much more then being justified" "shall 
we be saved." — Rom, 5:9. Nothing u shallbe able to separate us 
from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus." — Rom. 8:38, 39; 
Songs of Solomon 8:6, 7. 4. We are sealed — made secure — by 
the Holy Spirit.— 2 Cor. 1 :22; Eph 1 13; 4:30. 5. God knew all 
our future before conversion; so that He would not have con- 
verted us had He designed to let us be lost. 6. God does not 
give up the work of saving us. — John 13 :1 ; Philip 1:6. 7, Once 
in Christ, we can never sin as does the world. 1 John 3:6, 9, 10; 
5:18 8. Every true Christian has everlasting life — not the 
Universalist everlasting.— John 5 :24 9. Every true Christian 
shall "never perish.' 1 John 10:28. 10. The true Christian, by 
sin and Satan shall never be taken from Christ's hand. - John 10 : 
28, 29 11. Instead of leaving Christ, "every one that hath this 
hope set on him purifieth himself, even as he is pure." 1 John 
3:3. 12. An essential part of the new covenant is u that they shall 
not depart from me " — Jer 32:39-40. 13. Trials of Christians are 
like fire with gold — it never destroys the gold, but only the 
dross — 1 Pet. 1:7. 14. Ail things work together for the good 
of the true Christian. — Rom 8:28. 15. Everything against the 
true Christian is against Jesus. — Acts 9:5 16. Jesus prays for 
all true Christians, and His prayer is always heard — Compare 
Luke 22:32; Heb. 7:25; John 11:42. 17. The lost had never 
been known by Jesus as His. — Matt. 7 :23. 18. The true Christian, 
instead of being lost, will be more than a conqueror.— Rom. 8 :37. 



PRAYING FOR SINNERS . 



531 



Every prayer for the success of the word, for a 
revival, for the conversion of the world, is a prayer for 
sinners. Whoever attends church without praying the 
following prayer, in spirit, should not profess to be a 
Christian : — 

"Saviour, bless thy word to all; 
Quick and powerful let it prove; 
Oh, may sinners hear thy call; 

19. God suffers no one to be so strongly tempted as to be lost. — 
2 Pet. 2:9; 1 Cor. 10 : 13 ; Job 1 :13 ; 2 :6, 7. IL Nearly all the so- 
called proofs for falling away, compared with other Scriptures, 
prove the contrary. 1 1 he unclean spirit of his own accord 
went out, and as the Holy Spirit never dwelt there, he found the 
soul ready to welcome him back, and rightly called it "my 
house, i. p never was God's house Matt 12:43,44 2, The 
branch taken away, as horticulturists know, was only the sucker. 
— John 15:2. So those who fall away are only suckers or water 
branches . 3 I he Bible likens all who fall away to a sow and 
a dog, which sow-like and dog-like — never did a sheep so - 
returned to their wallow and vomit — 2 Pet 2:22: Prov 26:11. 
4. Judas, Hymenaeus, Alexander, Simon -were declared to be 
believers on their proftss ion. r l he New Testament never intended 
us to understand that all it records as Christians were genuine, 
any more than does any modern writer or church book so intend. 
On the contrary, it warns us that many of them are false —Matt 
7:21-23;1 John 2:4. 5 The Bible declares all such, u liars " 
Judas is called "a devil 1 ' about one year before the betrayal A 
"thief"' before his betrayal; and perdition "his own place " — 
John 6:70; 12 :6, And John declares every professor who lives 
like Satan, not one who has fallen, but a "liar," 1 John 2 -3, 4 
He also declares that the life, instead of proving that some have 
fallen aw r ay, proves who are genuine. 1 John 3 :10. Jesus declares 
the fallers away the rocky, thorny ground hearers — Luke 8:13, 
14, 15 These, then, instead of proving that true Christians are 
lost, in proving that only the false professor is lost, proves 
that no genuine Christian ever was, is, or ever will be lost. 
Paul's being a "cast away," alluded only to his not receiving the 
prize for highest excellence — Compare Dan. 12:4; 1 Cor. 3:12- 
15; 15:41; Matt. 20:16 As to Ezek. 18:24, 25: 33:12-16, a 
comparison of Ex 23:8; Deut. 25:1; 1 Kings 8:31,32; Dent 16: 
20; 21 :21 ; 2 Kings 14:6, will clearly show this righteousness and 
life and "death, not spiritual but civil. A religion, which we 
have to save, instead of one to save us, is but an additional 
burden to poor humanity. 



532 



ARE CAMPBELLITES SOUND 



Let thy people grow in love. 
Thine own gracious message bless; 
Follow it with power divine ; 
Give the gospel great success ; 
Thine own work, the glory thine." 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

DO MOST CAMPBELLITES BELIEVE THAT JESUS CHRIST IS 
THE ETERNAL, INFINITE GOD AND THAT THE 
ATONEMENT IS VICARIOUS ? 

That some Campbellites are on the affirmative of 
the heading of this Chapter, I am glad to be able to 
say. But : — 

1. The Campbellite denial of Total Depravity , of 
the necessity of the supernatural power of the Spirit, 
to convert and save, logically demands that, to a large 
extent, Campbellites negative the question, at the head 
of this Chapter. 

For if man can repent and believe by the word 
alone, at 7nost, he needs only that the penalty of the 
law, be satisfied. And if Campbellites can eliminate 
from the Bible the doctrines of depravity and the su- 
pernatural work of the Spirit, etc., in salvation like 
the Unitarians, they can eliminate the Deity and the 
Atonement of Christ. 

2. That J3. W. Stone, the originator of Camp- 
bellism, negatived the heading of this Chapter, is plain 
from his writings. 

Mr. Stone acknowledged: 6 6 We have also been 
charged with denying the Son of God; or in other 



ON THE DIVINITY OF CHRIST. 



533 



words, his divinity." — Works of B. W. Stone, by J. 
M. Mathes,p. 58. After in the Campbellite manner — 
trying to deny the truth of this charge, he says : "All 
must acknowledge that the only true God can not suf- 
fer." — idem, p. 62. "Is it possible that our breth- 
ren believe that the very and only true God was born 
of Mary?" — Idem, p. 62. To the Presbyterian Ar- 
ticle of Faith : 6 4 The Son of God, who is the Word of 
the Father, the very nature and eternal God, of one 
substance with the Father, took man's nature in the 
womb of the blessed Virgin; so that two whole and 
perfect natures, that is to say, the Godhead and the 
manhood, were joined together in one person, never to 
be divided, whereof is one Christ, very God and very 
man, who truly suffered, was crucified, dead, buried, 
to reconcile His Father to us" — to this, Mr. Stone 
says, "I object." — idem, jj. 60. On the Atonement 
he says : "The views of many of us have on this doc- 
trine subjected us to more reproach than anything else 
. . . We explain the word atonement as signifying 
reconciliation." — idem, p. 85. After twisting Scrip- 
tures he says: "Surely from none of these cases can 
the doctrines of imputation of sin and vicarious pun- 
ishment be deduced." — idem, p. 103. Thus he re- 
pudiates the Atonement and makes it only "at-one- 
ment" or reconciliation — which is only its effect or 
result. 

3. Alexander Campbell, who took Stone's place, 
and continued Campbellism, was either not settled upon 
the Deity of Christ and the Atonement or he disbe- 
lieved them. 

The proof of this is, (1) without one word of dis- 
sent, in 1828, Mr. Campbell published one of Mr. 
Stone's infidel articles on the Deity of Christ. See 



534 



ARE CAMPBELLITER SOUND 



Christian Baptist, p. 378. (2) Four years after this, 
and without any change of doctrine on the part of 
Stone and the Stoneites, Mr. Campbell and his sect 
united with them. This was in 1832. — Works B. W. 
Stone, p. 30. (3) William R. Williams, D. D., of 
N. Y., who did not often nod, says : "In an article 
written by the Rev. James Shannon, of their" — the 
Campbellite's — "body, the President of their institu- 
tion, Bacon College, at Harrodsburg, Ky., and con- 
tributed by him for the 'Historical Sketches of Ken- 
tucky,' " "it is stated that in that State" the Camp- 
bellites united "with the Christian Connexion," so- 
called, the followers of B. W. Stone, as being on the 
same foundation, and as preaching "the same gos- 
pel," and that Stone "repudiated the orthodox views 
of the Trinity, Sonship and Atonement," but dis- 
claimed Unitarianism. In that union, the biogra- 
pher of B. W. Stone, as quoted by Shannon, says : "We 
solemnly pledged ourselves to one another before God, 
to abandon all speculations on the Trinity and kindred 
subjects" contenting themselves with Scriptural sub- 
jects. By reference to page 378 it will be seen that 
Stone regarded the Deity and the Atonement as "spec- 
ulating on religion." Hence, together, the Stoneites 
and the Campbellites agreed to call these doctrines 
speculations, and in effect, as Unitarians and other in- 
fidel sects do, to quote the Bible and understand what- 
ever they should please as to its meaning on these vital 
subjects. Dr. Williams well says: "This exclusive 
use of the terms of Scripture seems plausible. But it 
was by some similar rule intended to exclude all dis- 
cussions, and by the abolition of creeds that Socinian- 



OS THE DIVINITY OF CHRIST. 



535 ' 



ism inaugurated its triumphs in the pulpits of Geneva, t 
. . . The article of President Shannon was prepared 
for a volume appearing in 1848. . . . Then the 
union in Kentucky was so entire between the disciples 
of Campbell and Stone that Mr. Shannon groups and 
describes them under one heading. ... In Rupp's 
works, published four years earlier, (1844) it is claimed 
for the Campbellites . . . that with regard to the Di- 
vine Being, and the manifestations of the Holy Spirit, 
by which he is revealed, the Disciples had no senti- 
ments incongruous with those of the parties who call 
themselves evangelical." Thus, in one breath, Camp- 
bell and his party endorsed Stoneism; in the next, 
united with them on "the same foundation" as 
6 'preaching the same gospel ; ' ' and in the next to save 
themselves from Scriptural odium — presto — change — 
claimed to be evangelical ! ! Well does Dr. Williams 
remark : "But there certainly seems some incongru- 
ity, if in a volume appearing only some few years la- 
ter, they are described as preaching the same gos- 
pel" with B. W. Stone, who "repudiated the orthodox 
vieivs of the Trinity, Sonship and Atonement" Of 
course, as Campbellites can blow hot and cold, and are 
like ' 'Paddy's spilled milk" — everywhere — they re- 
plied to Dr. Williams with great indignation, profess- 
ing, again, to be evangelical, etc. But with Stone's 
infidel writings before us, their reply convicts them ; 
for in it, they say : "It is a well established fact that 
Barton W. Stone, even on his death-bed, solemnly de- 
clared, in full view of the judgment, that he had never 
been a Unitarian, and had never regarded Christ a cre- 
ated being." What evasion! No one claims, that in 



fAs confirming Dr. Williams 1 statement, see Mosheim's Eecl. 
Hist,, Cent, 16, Sec. 3, chap. 4 and div. 9. 



536 



IS CAMPBELLISM SOUND 



every respect, he was a Unitarian. But that, on Christ 
and the Atonement he was, in substance and effect, an 
out and out Unitarian, no honest man, with his writ- 
ings before him, who understands language, can deny. 
Their apology for Stone only shows their sympathy 
with his views. — See Documentary Hist, Am. Bible 
Union, Vol. l,pp. 362, 404. 

(4) According to the undeniable saying that "Birds 
of a feather will flock together," how can we do oth- 
erwise than, at least, doubt the soundness of Mr. 
Campbell and his party, upon the Deity of Christ and 
the atonement, when they could unite with Stonism? 
(5) And when we read that they united upon the 

"SAME FOUNDATION," to PRE \ CH "THE SAME GOSPEL " 

and agreed to say nothing upon these subjects, but to 
regard them as speculations, we would be the veriest 
dupes to not believe them all infidel upon these f unda- 
mentals. As ''actions speak louder than words," af- 
ter this union, no amount of profession to the contrary 
can set Oampbellism right. 

4. Many of them yet profess Stonism. 

(1) J. M. Mathes, a leader of thousands of 
Campbellites, a preacher, debater, editor and publish- 
er, was so heartily in love with Mr. Stone as to pub- 
lish his Biography, and to introduce it to his readers 
thus: "The author became acquainted with the char- 
acter of Elder Stone some thirty-five years ago, and 
at a later period he became personally and intimately 
acquainted with him, and always loved and admired 
him for his great devotion to the truth, his child-like 
simplicity and godly sincerity." — Biog. of B. W. 
Stone, p. 6. (TMy italics. ). Mr. Mathes' statement, 
on p. 7, that Stone was sound on these subjects only 
shows his own sympathy with his views. Mr. Mathes 



ON THE DIVINITY OF CHRIST. 



537 



has a large following in Indiana and other States. In 
my debate with Mr. H. D. Bantau, one of the ablest 
of Campbellite leaders, he very readily took to himself 
my reflection on Stonism. When I asked him what 
he believed, he, Socinian like, only quoted Scripture, 
and I utterly failed to get him to tell whether he un- 
derstood his quotation to teach that Christ is God. 

How many Campbellites are sound on the Deity and 
atonement no man can tell. I can but say, with Wil- 
liam R. Williams, D. D. : "We would hope that there 
may be Trinitarians, and many of them, in the Camp- 
bellite connection; but its language and platforms seem 
to us, to repel them and to invite the adherents of 
grave and fatal error. Many of its ministry are com- 
monly regarded as Arian, not holding the Savior's 
equality of God-head with the Father, nor regarding 
the Holy Ghost as a distinct person." — Documentary 
Hist., Am. Bib. Union, p. 362. f 

I cannot stop to quote Scriptures for the Deity of 
Christ : but I refer the reader to: Isa. 8:13, 14; 1 
Pet. 2 :7, 8 ;— Isa. 6:5 ; John 12:41;— Isa. 46:6;Rev. 
22:13;— Isa. 43:11; 2. Pet. 3 :18 ; Rev. 22:6, 16; 
—Luke 1:76; Matt. 11:10;— Luke 1:16, 17; Matt. 
3:11;— Mai. 3 : 1 ;— Psa. 78:56; 1 Cor. 10:9; 
—John 3 : 29 ; Isa. 54 : 5 ;— Psa. 23 : 1 ; John 10 : 16, 
2; 1 Pet. 5:4; Psa. 100:3; John 10:3; 21:16; 1 
Pet. 5 : 25 ;— John 20 :28 ; Rom. 9 :5 ;— 2 Pet. 1 :1 ; John 
14; 11 ; _1 John 5: 20; Col. 2 : 8, 9 ;— John 1: 1— Isa. 
y : 6 ; _Jer. 23:6;— Isa. 2:17, 18;— Rev. 1:8 ;— Matt. 
8:2; 23:9; 23 :10 ;— John 1 :18 ; 14 :8, 9 ;— Jude 4 ; — 
Jude 24, 25 ; Eph. 5 :27 ;— 1 Kings 8 :39 ;Rev. 2 :23 :— 



t Campbellism is so fatally wrong on nearly every other essen- 
tial of Christianity that its position on the points in this chapter 
are of but little practical consequence. 



538 



CAMPBELLISM TEACHES 



2 Pet. 1:4; Heb. 3:14;— Zech. 12:4; John 19:37;— 
Philip. 1:10; 2 Pet. 3:12;— Isa. 40:10; Eev. 22:12. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

CAMPBELLISM TEACHES A STRONG COMPOUND OF THE 
DOCTRINE OF TRANSMIGRATION OF SOULS 
AND OF SPIRITISM. 

Says A. Campbell : 6 'Evident it is that 

the atmosphere .... is the proper residence of the 
ghosts of wicked men." "These spirits shown to be 
the demons, .... are now a component part of Sa- 
tan's empire." — Hand's Reply to Text Book on Camp- 
bellism,pp. 39, 40. By these spirits Mr. Campbell 
claims we are impressed. — Idem, p. 40. Mr. Hand 
says: "The devils were demons, understood to be 
spirits of dead men, such as knew the Savior and said : 
'Thou art the Christ.' " — Idem, p. 1 70. Now, there 
is not one word of truth in this statement. According 
to Campbellism, instead of the rich man dying and 
going to torment, instead of Judas going "to his own 
place" they remained here!! See Luke 16:23-31; 
Acts 1 :25. This Campbellite doctrine is an attempt 
to bolster up Spiritism with the Bible. See my note 
on Satan and demons, to Chapter 16, Section "2," of 
this book, on the Operations of the Spirit. The 
Pythagorians believed that the souls of the dead 
passed into other bodies. In various forms the Afri- 
cans, the Druids, the Mexicans, the Egyptians, the 
Hindus, the Grecians and some heretics among the 



TRANSMIGRATION OF SOULS. 



539 



early "Christians" believed the souls of the departed 
entered other bodies. Campbellism is nearer the view 
of the heathen Africans than probably any others. 
They believed "the soul immediately after death must 

look for a new owner The negro widows of 

Matamba are especially afraid of the souls of their 
husbands. . ♦ . The natives of Madagascar," when a 
man "is about to die," "make a hole in the roof, in 
order to catch the outgoing soul, and to breathe it into 
another man on the point of death .... It will be 
seen that the nations which entertain such a belief in 
transmigration, assume that the souls of the departed 
must continue to dwell upon the earth." — Universal 
Knowledge, Vol. 14, pp. 390, 391. Inasmuch as 
the Bible teaches that demons are on earth, that they 
dwell in men, Campbellism makes them the souls of 
wicked people. Thus, we have the heathen supersti- 
tion of ghosts dwelling in men! Spiritism, on this 
point, agrees with Campbellism, save that it does not 
believe in transmigration. But, as Campbellism does 
not fully believe that they dwell in the bodies of men, 
but only come and go, it is about half transmigration 
and half Spiritism. And!- — All this called reforming 
the Church ! ! 



540 



CAMPBELLISM RIDICULES 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

CAMPBELLISM RIDICULES A DIVINE CALL TO THE 
MINISTRY. 

By a "call to the ministry'' Baptists mean, and 
have ever meant, not some audible vo'ce or great sight, 
but a special "gift" or qualification for the office "by 
the Holy Spirit."— Chap. 26, Sec. 9, of the Philadel- 
phia Confession, of 1689. Thus, Rev. Wm, Staugh- 
ton, in a Circular Letter before the Philadelphia As- 
sociation, in 1807 writes: "There must be a divine 
call. . . . It is the voice of God in the soul. 'Occu- 
py till I come.' The subject feels a necessity laid 
upon him; a dispensation of the gospel committed to 
him. The souls of men appear of greater value than 
he had before conceived, — already he begins to travail 
in birth. He thirsts to be engaged in the work as a 
hart for the water brook." The call comes in a two- 
fold manner as described above, and as the writer inti- 
mates, through the Church recognizing his gifts and 
setting him apart for the work. — Min. JPhila. Ass.\ 
pp. 444, 445. I am careful to define the call, and to 
^how how our churches always stood on the subject, 
because, to hide their nakedness on this subject, Camp- 
bellites are fond of telling the people that when they 
began their so-called "reformation," Baptists believed 
in 4 'audible voices," "visions," etc., as the call to the 
ministry. Thus Hand mockingly and sneeringly ac- 
cuses us of "trying to abandon the old absurd doc- 
trine of a miraculous call to the ministry, in which 



THE CALL TO THE MINISTRY. 



541 



voices calling them to preach the gospel, were sup- 
posed to be heard, emanating from angels, men or 
monkeys, mules or donkeys, or almost any other sono- 
rous agent." — Text Book Exposed, p. 221. 

Campbellites mock at any call. Mr. Hand evasively 
replies to the above definition of a call: "Do not all 
Christians have a divine impression moving them to 
good works?" — idem, p. 220. I reply, of course; but 
not to the ministry, unless they are greater fools than 
other men are ; for not all men desire office in civil 
affairs. Mr. Hand mockingly and sneeringly says of 
calls to the ministry : "Perhaps they are hunger." — 
— idem, p. 220. So Mr. Campbell: "A Christian is 
by profession a preacher . . . He may of right 
preach, baptize and dispense the supper, as well as 
pray for all men." — Christian System, p. 82. About 
as wise as for some one to say : A citizen is by profes- 
sion an officer! True, Mr. Campbell would have the 
Church set some apart for the office. But why, if all 
are called? Hence Campbellites agree to ridicule the 
call to the ministry. 

In proof of a divine call to the ministry : — 

1. The ministry is an office. — 1 Tim. 3:1. 

2. In no society have all the right to office. True, 
as in the Church, so in the State, all in whom 
proper qualifications are discovered and who are duly 
set apart to the office have the right, 

3. The Bible declares that not all are called to the 
same office. — Rom. 12 : 4-8. 

4. In no society, human or divine, has any one the 
right to office or to perform the duties of office with- 
out a special and exclusive call to the office, by the au- 
thority which has instituted the office. 

5. Under the Old Testament all ministers had a 



542 



CAMPBELLISM RIDICULES 



special and exclusive call to the office. Noah, Moses, 
Aaron, Gideon, Elijah, Elisha, Samuel, etc., were alL 
called with special, exclusive calls. So were all the 
prophets— Ex. 3:13; Judg. 6:12-14; 1 Sam. 3:3,4: 
Judg. 6:11-14; 11:4,5-11; 1 Kings 17:1-3; 19:16; 
17 :19 ; Jer. 1 :4,5, etc. 

6. So necessary was the call to the ministry that, 
for entering it without the call, death was the penalty. 
—Num. 16:1-35. 

7. False teachers entered the ministry in contempt 
of an v call.— Jer. 14:14-16; 23:21; 27:14,15; 29: 
9, 31." 

8. A special and exclusive call was necessary for 
the builders of the tabernacle. — Ex. 31 : 3-6 ; 35 :30- 
35. These typified ministers, who by preaching and 
teaching build the Church. 

9. There can be no reason for these calls that does 
not, with as much greater force as the antitypical dis- 
pensation is greater than the typical, apply to our dis- 
pensation. If they needed a special and exclusive 
call, to qualify them and debar false teachers from de- 
stroying the people, we need it more. Only false 
teachers feel, without a call, sufficient for the work. — 
2 Cor. 2:16. The New Testament warns us against 
"false teachers" — men who have imposed themselves 
into the ministry.— Acts 20:29; 2 Cor. 2 :17 ; 2 Pet. 
2:1. I produce the Old Testament testimony not to 
prove the manner of the call; but the call. With the 
usual Campbellite candor Campbellites shift the sub- 
ject from the call to the manner in which the call is 
given, and then try to mock away the force of the 
Scriptures which are produced, not to prove the man- 
ner of the call, but the call. — Hand's Text Booh Ex- 
posed, p. 220. As well deny that United States Sen- 



THE CALL TO THE MINISTRY. 



543 



ators are called by the people to the Senate, because 
they are not elected in the same manner in which 
the President is elected. Or as well deny the force 
of any Old Testament Scriptures, in favor of wor- 
ship, to-day, because we do not worship in the manner 
in which they worshipped, as to deny their force for 
a call to the ministry to-day because ministers are not 
called in the same manner in which they were then 
called. In contrast with this mocking spirit, which 
would mock away all this Old Testament proof, Paul 
says: "Now these things were our examples . . . and 
they were written for our admonition, upon whom the 
ends of the ages are come." — 1 Cor. 10 :6-ll. AsBengel 
comments: "The use of the Old Testament Scripture 
is in the fullest force in the New Testament." — in I; 
so Matt. Henry, Scott. "Every Scripture inspired of 
God is also profitable for teaching," etc. 2 Tim. 3: 
15-16. So Christ and His Apostles, generally, 
preached from the Old Testament ; and exhorted 
their hearers to study it as a practical guide. To a very 
large extent the Old Testament w 7 as the guide of the 
Church in the first century. — Compare Luke 24 : 2 7,32, 
45 ; John 5 :39 : Acts 17 :2,11 ; 18 :24,28 ; 2 Tim. 3 : 
14-17; 2 Pet. 1 : 20 ; 1 Cor. 9 ; and the whole of He- 
brews. That the substance of the Old had passed 
away the New Testament never even intimates, but ex- 
pressly denies. It clearly teaches that only the typi- 
cal part, i. e., ceremonies, etc., has passed away. 
* 11. The New Testament teaches that instead of the 
call to the ministry being done away, it continues. The 
first ministers were called with a special and exclusive 
call.— Matt. 10 : 18-22 ; Luke 10 ; 1 : Acts 13 : 2 ; 
2:24; 9:15; 1 Cor. 4:9; 12:28; Acts 20:28. 

12. Many of these calls were not "miraculous 



544 



CAMPBELLISM RIDICULES 



calls." Only Paul, among the Apostles, was miracu- 
lously called. 

13. In that Paul was miraculously called and the 
other apostles were not so called, we see that the man- 
ner of their call is no indication that preachers, to- 
day, are not called because not miraculously called. 
It proves that the question is not the manner but the 
call. 

14. Paul implies a special and exclusive call to 
preach when he asks : ' 'How shall they preach except 
they be sent?" — Rom. 10:15. This being an allusion to 
Isa. 57:1,2; Nahum 1:15; and to the Old Testament 
rule, to send all who carried tidings, — 1 Kings 14 :6; 
2 Sam. 18:19 — teaches, as plain as two and two are 
four, that ministers have the same call. under the New, 
which they had under the Old . The allusion to the 
call, under the Old as proving the call under the New, 
taught every Jewish convert that the call is as neces- 
sary under the New as under the Old. 

15. Jesus taught the same call when He command- 
ed His disciples to pray that He call ministers. — Matt. 
9 :38.f If all Christians are called totheoffice — to the 
ministry, — if God does not send special ones to preach 
— this prayer is as uncalled for as is Campbellism. 

16. The Ephesian elders had a special call to the 
ministry. — Acts 20 :28. 

17. Jesus Christ Himself was not so daringly pre- 
sumptuous as Campbellite ministers ; but He was es- 
pecially sent into the world. — John 3:17. 

18. Jesus says of His ministers: "As thou didst 

fOur churches and pastors cannot, especially at this time, too 
prayerfully consider this exhortation May God pity our 
churches and a lost world, when the ministry must be unfilled or 
filled by seZ/-sent occupants ! 



THE CALL TO THE MINISTRY. 



545 



send me into the world" — i. e. to save men — "even so 
have I sent them into the world." — John i7 :17. 

19. Not only were men called into the ministry, 
but an especial call was necessary to being a foreign 
missionary. — Acts 13:2. 

20. Paul's directions to Timothy imply that not 
every Christian has a right to the work of the ministry, 
but that God especially calls and qualifies His minis- 
ters, 1st, directiv; 2nd, through the church. — 1 Tim. 
2:3-7. 

(Paul's directions concerning deacons, in connection 
with Acts 6, imply that not everyone has a right to 
even the dcaconship.) 

The Greek, for preach, indicates that only called 
preachers are to preach. In the Greek are dcayyittw, 
dca/Jyo/ucu, euayyeXc^co, xaTayyeXXco, XaXsto and xrjpoooo, 
by our common version rendered preach. While the 
others rendered "preach" denote, making known 
the gospel by all Christians — ministers and lay- 
men — the last one is never applied to any but ordained 
preachers' work. Liddell and Scott define keerusso. 
"A herald or marshal, a public messenger, partaking 
of the character of an embassador, an honorable office 
in early times ; they summoned the assembly ; . . they 
had especial charge of the arrangements at sacrifices 
and festivals and even private entertainments. From 
the heroic times their office was sacred and their per- 
sons inviolable, as being under the immediate protec- 
tion of Jupiter." — Lex. Substantially, the same are 
the definitions of Kobinson's, Bagster's and Greenfield's 
Lexicons. Thus, God appropriates a Greek word, 
well known to apply to only public officials and priests, 
regarded especially called and under Jupiter's protec- 
tion, to denote^the reality in His ministers. As Jupi- 



546 



CAMPBELLISM RIDICULES 



ter's heralds were regarded under his especial protec- 
tion, God's called ones are, in truth and reality , under 
His protection. Compare 1 Chron. 16 :22 ; Rev. 1 : 

16, 20. Prof. A. C. Kendrick, D. D., of Rochester 
Theological Seminary, well says of keerusso, and 
of keerux (rrjpbaoa), xrjpu£) the former is the verb — to 
preach, the latter the noun — preacher: 6 6 As such it 
means primarily to publish or proclaim by public au- 
thority, as a herald, a crier ... in general, simply to 
proclaim, publish, as one acting by authority." He 
adds: "The New Testament heralds of the cross do 
not make their proclamation except they are sent forth 
(Rom. 10 :15.) The Christian preacher is the 'legate 
of the skies,' his office sacred, his credentials clear." 
—Smith's Bib. Die, Vol. 3, pp. 2574, 2575, 
Keerusso occurs sixty times in the New Testament ; 
Tceerux three. Neither of them is ever used in refer- 
ence to an unordained person or layman. Not only is 
neither of them so used; but they are carefully and 
purposely, in their use, distinguished from the other 
words, which, in our version, are indiscriminately, 
with them, rendered preach. Thus, though Jesus had, 
doubtless, let His light shine during all of His life, and 
had taught in the temple when but twelve years old, 
keerusso is not used with reference to Him until after 
His Baptism, when He entered on His ministry — "From 
that time Jesus began to preach" — keerusso. — Matt 4 : 

17. In Acts 8:4: "They" — laymen — "that were 
scattered abroad went about preaching." (HJvangelizo, 
telling and talking of Jesus, as every Christian ought 
todo.) But in v. 5, "Philip" — apreacher — "went 
down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed [keerus- 



THE CALL TO THE MINISTRY. 



547 



so, as a called, official preacher, a herald], utito them 
Christ, "t 

21. Ordination by the church is essential to com- 
plete the call. By ordination I mean appointing or 
setting apart. (1) This was the Old Testament plan. 
—Num. 27:18-23; Ex. 28:41; Lev. 16:32; 1 Kings 
19:16; 1 Chron. 16:22. 

(2) This was done by the laying on of hands. — 
Num. 27 :23. Let it be remembered that, in Scripture, 
laying on of hands, in many cases, did not confer the 
Holy Spirit. See Gen. 48 :14 ; Matt. 19 :13-15; Acts 
6 :6. In many cases laying oh of hands was only a 
token of authority conferred, or a symbol of blessings 
having been conferred. 

(3) In the New Testament ministers are to be or- 
dained by the laying on of hands, (a) Deacons were 
thus ordained. Acts 6:6. If deacons were thus 
ordained, surely ministers must be. (h) Ministers 
are to be so ordained. — 1 Tim. 4 :14; 5 :22; 2 Tim. 1 : 
6; Acts 13:3. While Timothy seems to have had 
miraculous gifts, there is no evidence that the only 
purpose of laying of hands on him was to confer them. 
As only apostles' hands could impart the 6 'gift of the 
Spirit," it is certain that the design of laying on 
hands, in ordination, was not to confer that gift ; for 
Timothy, who was not an apostle — as well as others 
who were not apostles, laid on their hands in ordina- 
tion.— 1 Tim. 5 :22 ; Acts 8:14. 

fWe ought to thank God for increased u lay activity" and to pray 
and work for more of it. In Acts 8:4 we see what "-live laymen" 
will do. But, there can be no doubt that the order of our church- 
es suffers from the impression it is making— that all Christians 
have the right to preach, baptize, etc. Let us not forget to follow 
the Bible This will not hinder "lay activity," but will preserve 
New Testament order. 



548 



THE CALL TO THE MINISTRY. 



22. God has committed the gospel to the churches. 
—Acts 16:4; 1 Cor. 11:1; 2 Thess. 3:6; 1 Tim. 3: 
15; Rev. 2:14; 3:10. The churches, and not the 
ministry, ordain. The churches ordain through the 
Presbytery, as their divinely provided agents to ordain. 
Thus the call is completed, — thus Timothy received the 
"gift'' or right to the ministry. See Eph. 4:8, 11. 
Thus the call of all ministers was completed — ; first, 
given to them by impressing their work upon them ; 
second, completed by ordination. — See Acts 14 :23. 

I conclude this chapter with Jer. 23:15, which is 
as applicable to all* self-called ministers now as in 
Jeremiah's time : "For / have not sent them, saith 
the Lord, but they prophesy falsely in my name;" 
"because Shemeiah hath prophesied unto you, and I 
sent him not, and he hath caused you to trust in a lie." 
— water salvation — "therefore thus saith the Lord be- 
hold I will punish Shemeiah."— Jer. 27:15; 29:31; 
Acts 20:29; Gal. 1:8; 2 Pet. 2:l.f 



t No strange thing that the Campbellite preacher-making ma- 
chine should put such a godless set into office as C. Kendrick, a 
leading Campbellite, in an essay before the Campbellite meet- 
ing of Southern Cal., and published by request in ^Christian" 
Church News, of Dec. 15, 1885, confesses they have: — u We are 
choosing and ordaining men, — making bishops or pastors of men 
. . . without capacity to teach or rule . . some of whom have 
never even prayed in the church, or in their families.* ' 



CAMPBELLISM IS ROMANISM. 



549 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

CAMPBELLISM IS, IN PRINCIPLE, ROMANISM IN CHURCH 
GOVERNMENT. 

Says Alexander Campbell : "The whole community 
can act and ought to act, in receiving and in excluding 
persons : but in the aggregate it can never become 
judges of offenses and a tribunal of trial .... The 
Christian Church engrosses old men, young men and 
babes in Christ. Shall the voice of a babe be heard, or 
counted as a vote, in a case of discipline? What is the 
use of a bishop in a church, if all are to rule — of 
judges, if all are judges of fact and law? No wonder 
that broils .... disturb these communities ruled by 
a democracy of the whole — where everything is to be 

judged in public assembly no individual has 

a right to accuse any person before the whole commu- 
nity. The charge in no case is to be preferred before 
the whole congregation .... notify the elders" — 
Christian System, pp. 88,89. Mr. Hand: "Mr. 
Ray .... gives every man, woman and child in 
the Church a vote in the binding and loosing, thus giv- 
ing to the most ignorant members of a Church the au- 
thority of making laws binding, which the king gave 
only to his embassadors." — Text Booh Exposed p. 
148. The Am. "Christian" Review: "The elders 
. . . . simply execute the laws of Christ, so that 
whatever they bind on earth according to the word of 
God is bound in heaven." — -quoted by The Independ- 
ent. In principle Campbellites agree in robbing the 



550 



CAMPBELLISM IS ROMANISM 



Church, by the "eldership," of its authority. Verily, 
this is wonderful power over the Church to give any 
mortals — much more so, to give a class of men who 
have "no call" of God! 

1. There is not one word in the Bible in support of 
this species of Romanism. True, elders are said, in 
the Bible, to rule, but only as declaring the law of 
God, which governs the Churches. 

2. In the first difficulty of the Church not even 
Apostles presumed to take from Christ's Church its 
own government. See Acts 6 :2-5. After stating that 
the whole Church elected, by vote, the seven, Meyer : 
"The Christian multitude in general not merely indi- 
viduals or a mere committee of the Church. . . Ob- 
serve, moreover, how the right to elect was regarded by 
the Apostles as vested in the Church." — in L Baum- 
garten — against his own Church — says: "It is unde- 
niable that it would have been a very natural course 
for the Apostles, as those who were furnished extra- 
ordinarily with the gift of discerning the Spirits, to 
feel confident that they themselves could best perform 
this nomination. How easily might such an exercise 
of Apostolic prerogative have been decked out with 
the most specious arguments ! With what a fair show 
of reason might it have been maintained that at the 
very time when the first symptom of selfishness had 
manifested itself, both on a large and generous scale,it 
was impossible to trust the whole community," (Just 
what Campbellism says.) "as a body with the task of 
selecting the men who were best fitted to put down 
this vice ! How speciously might it have been held 
that such an appeal to the community" (the Church) 
"would be nothing else than to leave the sick man to 
choose his own medicines ! How, might it further be 



IN CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 



551 



asked — how could the Apostles whom the Lord Him- 
self had made answerable for the guidance and direc- 
tion of His Church, and whom, for the purposes of 
their holy vocation, He had endowed with official 
grace, venture in so critical a moment to bestow upon 
it not even the slightest portion of their influence?" 
(Campbellism now takes all the government from the 
Church on this plea.) "Is it not cowardly to aban- 
don, for the sake of quiet and ease, those rights which 
God had entrusted to them, in order to gain the good 
will of the multitude? But we see the Apostles did not 
allow themselves to be influenced by such thoughts." 
— Apost. Hist. Vol. 1, p. 127. Olshausen : "The 
matter in question was laid before the whole body. 
Here accordingly we find the democratic element pre- 
vailing in the Church." — in I. So Doddridge, Hack- 
elt, Meyer, et. al. Campbellism ignores the Church 
as the body and the fullness of Christ, in which he t 
dwells, as much in those whom Campbellism dispar- 
agingly calls "babes," "old men" and "women" as 
in the elders.— Eph. 5:29,30; 1:23; 3*19. Denying 
the operation of the Spirit* Campbellism sees the sub- 
ject through only natural glasses. After a life of 20 
years, in Churches — most of it in the ministry, I, with 
all who have carefully considered the subject, unhesi- 
tatingly say, that the classes Campbellism so reflects 
on are as reliable in Church business as others. God's 
Spirit warms their hearts, clears their heads. — See 
Rom. 8:14; 1 John 2:27. This spiritual leadership 
is preferable to all rule from the big Pope down to the 
little pope — the "ruling elder," Of the Church 
trouble in Acts 6 : Baumgarten says • "The very fact 

t Thus ' elders" are put into the place of Christ's fullness in 
the Church. 



552 



CAMPBELLISM IS ROMANISM 



that sufficient vigor of reaction against every disturb- 
ing force is contained not in any personal virtue in any 
institution, but in the secret bosom of the community 
or Church, demonstrates that the Church however ex- 
posed and subjected at times to the disturbances of sin, 
is nevertheless the city of spiritual fullness" Again: 
"Notwithstanding the striking -weakness exhibited at 
the time by the community, the Apostles had more 
trust in the spirit of the Church than in the sufficiency 
of their own office." — idem, pp. 128, 129. (My 
italics.) 

3. The Campbellites are positively condemned by 
Matt. 18:15-17. They take away Christ's directions 
and say, "tell it unto the elders!" 

4. The most scandalous case on record the Apostle 
directed to be excluded by the whole Church — "Ye 
being gathered together," "by the many" — Compare 
1 Cor. 5 :4 ; 2 Cor. 1:6. So Doddridge, Bloomfield, 
MacKnight, The Bible Commentary, Olshausen, 
Barnes, etc. Olshausen: "The passage belongs to 
those in the New Testament which point to a democratic 
equality among all the members of the Church for it 

is, of course, improbable that you being 

gathered together, refers only to presbyters and rulers 
of the church." — in I. Barnes : "This passage proves 
that discipline belongs to the church itself ; and so 
deep was Paul's conviction of this that even he would 
not administer it, without their concurrence and 
action." — in I. 

5. So all the directions for receiving, excluding, 
teach that all the suffrage — government belongs to the 



IN CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 



553 



whole body. —Rom. 14:1; t 1 Cor. 11:1; 2Thess. 3:6. 

6. Church historians are almost unanimously agreed 
that the char dies governed themselves, in the first 
century, — JSTeander's Plant. Tr. p. 149; Schaff's 
Hist. Chr. Ch. vol. l,p. 138, 136; Guerickes, Ch. 
Hist. vol. 1, p. 110; Mbsheim's Eccl. Hist. Cent. 
1, Part 2, Chap. 2, Wadding ton y s Ch. Hist., p. 41, 
Of the "Pentecost" Church — thus we see it was a Bap- 
tist Church — Waddington says: "It is also true that 
in the earliest government of the first Christian society, 
that of Jerusalem, not the elders only, but the whole 
Church" governed. — p. 41. The principle of Baptist 
Church government Mr. Campbell concedes true. This 
answers his objections to all the members voting. His 
words are: "Every citizen of Christ's kingdom has, 
in virtue of his citizenship, equal right, privileges and 
immunities." — Christian System, p. 81. C. Ken- 
drick, another leading Campbellite, in an essay before 
the Southern California Campbellite Conference, allud- 
ing to Acts 6 : "Then the multitude made the selections 
.... This is the second democratic action of the 
Church ... It is the work of the Church." — ^n 
Christian Church News, Dec. 15, 1885 — published at 
Sacramento. 

7. Every Campbellite objection, quoted at the head 
of this chapter, to the people governing themselves in 
church matters, is urged by the Romish Church for 
its iron rule : and in State affairs is urged by the rulers 
of the old world against the people ruling. If the 

f Olshausen : "npoaeXd^ero — "receive". . . is used 
in a modified sense, as it here relates, to reception into the 
church " — on Born 14:3,1. So Bloomfield, Barnes, et al. 



554 



CAMPBELLISM IS ROMANISM. 



objections are good in one case, they are in all. Out 
of the notion that the people are incapable of self- 
government, Guizot traces the origin and rise of both 
Church and State aristocracy and despotism. God 
has ordained Church troubles, as boils on the body, to 
correct any corruption that exists. In all self govern- 
ments, wrongs correct themselves by popular agitation 
— even strife. If Campbellite improvement( ?) on the 
New Testament plan works so well, why are Camp- 
bellite societies divided over the organ and over 
numerous other questions? Why is the sect threat- 
ened with a split over its missionary and other ques- 
tions? Where, 0! where are the riding elders! ! I 

8. Finally, if the New Testament government may 
be taken from the people and given to elders, why not 
to "evangelists,'' preachers — yea, to the Pope? Over 
this very question, Campbellism is now sweating and 
groaning. Sa3 r s the American " Christian" Review, 
of Cincinnati, representing one wing of the Campbell- 
ites : "An effort is now being made to destroy the 
independency of the congregations by bringing them 
under the rule of three orders of evangelists, appointed 
by convention bosses, and the attempts on the part of 
a new class of men, styled the pastors, to overturn the 
eldership. . . . are unmistakable signs of apostacy . . . 
If possible, we must shake off the incubus of Aposta- 
cy." — quoted in The Independent. This is Romish 
history repeating itself. Ignore the New Testament 
and where will you stop? But — Where, O avhere 
are the ruling elders — to save Canipbellism ! ! ! 



CAMPBELLISM ANTI-SCRIPTURAL. 555 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

CAMPBELLISM ANTI-SCRIPTURAL , UPON THE PLURALITY 
OF ELDERS. 

1. Campbellism is anti-Scriptural, in its elders 
robbing the people of self-government. See the last 
Chapter. 

2. Lay or non-preaching elders are not known to 
the New Testament. The only officers which the New 
Testament provides for the Churches are preachers and 
deacons. The preachers are called elders, not with 
reference to age, but with reference to maturity in 
knowledge and wisdom. Also, overseers and pastors or 
— bishops, with reference to their watching and feed- 
ing the flock. Also teachers, with reference to their 
teaching. Also evangelists, with reference to their 
announcing the good news. Compare Eph. 4:11; 1 
Tim. 1:3; 3:2; 4 :11; 6:2; 2 Tim. 2:2; Philip. 1:1; 
1 Tim. 3:1, Tit. 1:7; Acts 20:28; 1 Tim. 5:1, 19; 1 
Pet. 5:1, Tit. 1:5; 1 Tim. 5:1 7.f 

t Jacobson, of bishop and elder— entexonos and 
TcpscrftuTepot; : 6 'No distinction is made between the 
words, for they both have the same meaning, (Acts 20:17,28; 
Tit. 1:5) : a presbuteros occupied precisely the same position as 
an episcopos. Philip. 1:1; 1 Tim. 3:18." — Schaff-Herzoq Ency. 
Vol.l,p,298. Colman devotes 121 pp. of his "Apostolic and 
Primitive Church" to the proof that they were the same in every 
respect. See Davidson's Eccl. Pol , p. 157; Smith's Die. Chr. An- 
tiq , Vol. l,p. 209; Kurtz's Ch. Hist, Vol 1, p. 67; Mosheim's 
Eccl.Hist., Chap. 2, Sec. 8\ Schaff's Hist. Chr. Ch., Vol. I,p.l34; 
Smith's Bib Dir., Vol.l,p 310; Conybeare's and Howson's Life 
Ep. Paul— London, Vol, 465; KiUos Cyclopedia, Art, Bishop; 
Ullman, Beformers Before the Beformation, Vol. 1 ,p 124, etc, etc. 



556 C AMPB ELLISM ANTI- SCRIPTURAL 



Objection. 

1 Tim. 5 :17 says : ' 'Let the elders that rule well be 
counted worthy of double honour, especially those who 
labour in word and doctrine." And Rom. 12 :8 says, 
"he that ruleth with diligence." In reply, 1, it does 
not say a lay or non-preaching elder. 2. The rule, as 
among Baptists, is not by taking away the people's 
right to self-government, but by the force of only 
character and teaching. Proisteemi — rcpoiazr^d — 
means a rule from moral influence. So it was ren- 
dered in Titus 3 :8, 14, "to maintain" — i. e., "good 
works." As one of its meanings, Robinson's Lex.: 
"Specially to care for anything." So LiddelV s and 
Scotfs, Bagster's, Greenfield's Lexs. 

3. If Rom. 12:8 makes an office to only rule, then, 
by the same method of interpretation, we have seven 
distinct church offices in that chapter, viz., prophets, 
ministers, teachers, exhorters, givers, rulers, mercy 
showers ! All it means is the ruling of the ministry, 
as above mentioned. 

4. As to the distinction between a preaching and a 
ruling non-preaching elder, in 1 Tim. 5 :17, it alludes 
to only elders who labor harder than others. Kopiao 
xoTitdco — here rendered labor means "to be weary, 

tired, to faint to weary one's self with 

labor." — Robinson's, LiddelV s and Scott's, Bagster's 
and Greenfield's Lexs. See its use in Matt. 11 :28, 
Luke 5 :5 ; John 4 :6, where it is rendered "labor," 
"toiled," "being wearied." So Paul says "let the pas- 
tors who best govern Churches be counted worthy of 
double honor" — well supported, as many commenta- 
tors rightly interpret — and "especially those who 
labour" — work the hardest — "in word and doctrine. "- 
So Lange, et ah, in I. Rev. J. P. Wilson, (Presb.J 



UPON THE PLURALITY OF ELDERS. 



557 



Prim. Gov. of Chr. Ch., pp. 282, 283. Matt. 
Henry, Presbyterian: " Some have imagined that by 
elders that rule well the Apostle means lay elders, who 
were employed in ruling ; I confess this is the plainest 
text of Scripture to countenance such an opinion; but 
it seems a little strange that mere ruling elders should 
be accounted worthy of double honour, when the Apos- 
tle preferred preaching to baptizing and much more 
would he prefer it to ruling the Church," etc. — in I. 
Dr. Cunningham, Presbyterian: "There are those el- 
ders who assiduously apply themselves to the most 
important as well as the most difficult part of the office 
— public teaching ; that the distinction is not therefore 
official, but personal : that it does not relate to a differ- 
ence in the powers conferred, but solely to a different 
application." — Apost. Ch. Pol., by William Wil- 
liams, JD. D., p. 25. "The distinction of teaching 
presbyters or ministers proper, and ruling presbyters 
or lay elders, rests on a single passage, which unques- 
tionably admits a different interpretation."— Sckaff's 
His. Chr. Ch., Vol. 1, p. 134. Dr. Patton, now 
President of Princeton Theol. Sem. : — "The distinc- 
tion between the teaching and the ruling elder has 
never seemed to us warranted by Scripture. We be- 
lieve there is but one class of presbyters recognized in 
the New Testament, and these are alSo called bishops. 
A, non-teaching bishop or elder the New Testament 
knows nothing of. Bishops are elders and elders are 
bishops." — The Interior , April 17, 1873; so Kurtz's 
Ch. Hist. Vol. 1, p. 67, Olshausen, Limborch, 
Bloomjield, et al., et mul.al. Lange, on 1 Tim. 5 :17 : 
"No footsteps are to be found in any Christian Church 
of* lay elders, nor were there for many hundred years." 
5. To make lay elders out of these two passages 



558 



CAMPBELL ISM ANTI-SCRIPTURAL 



would make them contradict the other Scriptures, 
which recognize only preachers and deacons and the 
seZ/'-government of the churches — so far as concerns 
suffrage. Lay or non-preaching, ruling elders, John 
Calvin received, in principle, from Rome, and the 
office, at Geneva, in 1541, he invented. — Congrega- 
tionalism, by Dexter,]). 119 ; Davidson's, Eccl. Pol- 
ity,]). 193. Campbellism received it from Presbyte- 
rian ism. 

Having answered the objection : — 

3. The Campbellite doctrine, that there must be a 
6 'plurality of elders" — whether lay or preaching — in 
every Church is unauthorized by the Scriptures. 
That there should be a plurality where a Church is too 
large for one to care for it, all believe. The Ongole Bap- 
tist Church, among the Telegus, had about 14,000 
members. They live in about 400 different villages, 
scattered over a country seventy miles wide and 110 
long. This church had — before it was divided into 
different churches — between twenty-five and fifty eld- 
ers. They were necessary to care for so large a 
church. The Tremont Temple Church, Boston, and 
some other Baptist Churches, have more than one pas- 
tor. Thus it was in Apostolic times. As an example, 
the Church at Jerusalem had, at least, 5,000 members. 
Acts 4 :4. For convenience, these large Churches met 
part in one place and part in another; often in private 
houses.— Acts 2:46; 20:7-11; Eom. 16:5; 1 Cor. 
16:19; Col. 4:15; 2 John 10. Mosbeim, KunioeL 
et al. But, in our times, Alexander Campbell, John 
Wesley, etc., have originated so many divisions, by 
their new sects, that generally the churches are not too 
large for one pastor to care for. A plurality of elders 
for every church now, many of which having only from 



UPON THE PLURALITY OF ELDERS. 



559 



six to twenty-five members, is like a company of sol- 
diers divided into all officers, save one or two privates ! ! 

4. Having ignored the New Testamant eldership, 
Campbellism is unsettled as to what it should do as to 
the eldership. The " Christian" Preacher, formerly 
of New Orleans, says: "That we are unsettled as to 
church polity, and not thoroughly Apostolic in it, may 
be admitted ; but that it is of secondary importance we 
think is wide of the mark. We consider that our mis- 
take has been right here, as it has evidently been the 
rock upon which our bark is now about to be dashed to 
pieces" (My italics.) Jacob Creath : "Compare the 
language of our papers with our motto — that we will 
observe the silence of the Bible, as well as what it says 
— and see if we are not out on the 4 sea of uncertain- 
ties,' as Bro. Campbell once said. Our unscriptural 
words and things are no better than those of Catholic 
and Protestant sects. They are the same in principle . 
Theirs is more extended than ours — that is all. Pope- 
dom is our pastorate carried to its ultimate and legiti- 
mate analysis and residts. Our pastorate is on a small 
scale — the Pope is universal pastor; our organs are 
small — the Pope's are large; our conventions are 
his councils under a different name. We have nearly 
all the same things that Papists and sectarians have, 
only under different names. We have the same dump- 
lings, but different bowls to put them in, as the Indian 
said. What do we lack of being a sect." — In Apos- 
tolic Times. "The Christian" Preacher, of Dallas, 
Tex., of April 21, 1881, says: "We have had theo- 
ries about the eldership being sufficient to do all the 
needed work ; but theories and facts are two different 
things. The facts are against our theories, which is 
proof that our theories on this question have been ut- 



560 CAMPBELLISM ANTI-SCRIPTURAL. 

terly worthless." (My italics.) He adds : < 'We would 
make this thought emphatic: Our churches without 
regular preaching cannot succeed f 'Where, Oh! where 
are the lay, "ruling elders?" From an essay read be- 
fore the Southern California Campbellite meeting by 
C. Kendrick, and published in the "Christian" 
Church JVews, of Sacramento, Dec. 15, 1885, we read : 
"The plea is urged that our bishops are not capable, 
and do not and will not shepherd and protect the 
churches. They say the churches have been ' elder ed 
to death,' that their work is church Gratification. . . 
The elders say . . . that 'the churches are preached 
to death.' . . . Shall we then continue this crimination 
while churches are languishing and souls are dying, or 
shall we seek the causes of these failures, and seek to 
remove them." Among the remedies- Mr. Kendrick 
proposes for these lay "ruling elders," is that, "if 
they are to teach, they need money to pay for books 
and papers, and time to qualify themselves, just as 
preachers do" Where, Oh! where are the lay ruling 
elders ! ! 1 



CAMPBELLISM A NEST OF HERESIES. 



561 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

CAMPBELLISM A NEST AND CAGE OF HERESIES AND AN 
ECCLESIASTICAL PIRATE. 

A pirate vessel has no flag. It sails under all flags. 
Under whatever flag will best serve its purpose, to 
capture a vessel, it sails. The history of Christianity 
proves that "false teachers," false doctrines and "un- 
evangelical" Churches and infidels have always hated 
"creeds." Of course, false as well as true teachers 
have creeds. But most false teachers are too shrewd 
or too insincere to write a creed. For, they know that 
people can see what is their doctrine by their creed, 
and convict them by their own testimony. As William 
R.Williams says: "Socinianism inaugurated its tri- 
umphs in the pulpits of Geneva" by refusing to use 
creeds." — Doc. Hist. Am. Bib. Union, Vol.1, p. 
362. But, before our eyes, we have abundant illus- 
trations of creed haters? Who are they? Every 
class of avoived infidels? Who else? Avery large 
number of people calling themselves ''Christians" — 
such as the Unitarians, the liberal (?) wing of the Con- 
gregationalists and the Campbellites. Together they 
keep up one united howl against creeds. To heed them 
you would think that creeds caused the angels to fall 
from heaven ; that creeds were the serpent that se- 
duced our first parents ; that the Egyptians were creeds 
from which Moses delivered the Israelites; — that 
creeds are the root of all evil. 

1. Why is it that all this infidel and water salva- 



562 



CAMPBELLISM A NEST OF HERESIES 



tion crew so hate creeds? What liarni have true creeds 
done? 

2. If creeds are wrong how is it that infidels so 
hate creeds? When did Satan become a saint or hire 
out to the Lord to put down evil? 

3. But what is a creed? Creed is from the Latin, 
credo , "to believe a thing, hold or admit it as true 
... to commit or consign something to one for pres- 
ervation, protection." — Andrews' Lat. Lex. Creed, 
then is, first, what any one believes; second!} 7 , what 
he consigns, it may be to writing, for preservation, 
protection. The creed is thus as much a creed un- 
written as written. All who believe anything, to the 
extent of that belief, have a creed. An absolute idiot 
or an infant — one who never thought a thought is the 
only human being who has no creed. 

4. Why not write this creed? And ichy not a 
number of persons make this written creed the test of 
what they agree that the Bible teaches? The Camp- 
bellite answers : "Agree on the Bible." But, as Uni- 
versalists, Unitarians, Socinians and a great many 
sects which call themselves "Christians," but who are 
really infidels, say the Bible is their creed, before 
uniting together, we want to know whether we are 
agreed as to what the Bible teaches as essentials. If 
we are not agreed on what are these essentials, we are 
like a business firm which was incorporated to do busi- 
ness upon "business principles ;" but which, when it 
began business, found itself essentially and irrecon- 
cilably divided, as to what business principles are, and 
as to how they are to be applied. An honest man will 
not object to telling or ivriting out articles of agree- 
ment before the firm has become a firm. Why should 
honest men decline to do less in Christian affairs? 



AND AN ECCLESIASTICAL PIRATE . 



563 



OBJECTION. 

1. But, the Campbellite is driven by the force of 
the above argument to shift the objection by saying : 
"Ah, we do not object to writing this out, but we do 
object to substituting it for the Bible, as the rule of 
faith." To this I reply : "If you do not object to 
writing it as only a test of agreement, why have not 
Campbellite Churches done so? For the last fifty years 
they have in all charity and entreaty, been asked to do 
so. 

(2) While many others do, to a large extent, 
substitute f creeds for the Bible, Baptists do and have 
always made the Bible as "their only guide to faith 
and practice;" and have used creeds only as tests of 
agreement as to what are the "essentials" of Bible 

o 

teaching. (By essentials we mean what cannot be 
dispensed with and yet be a Christian or a Church.) 
As you, my Campbellite friend, as you have been told 
by your preachers that our creed is our rule of faith 
and practice, I will, by the grace of God, open your 
eyes to see that here, as elsewhere, you are in error. 
(a) Do you ever hear Baptist Preachers take their 
texts from their creed? (b) Do Baptist Churches 
receive and exclude members by their creed as the tow? 
( c) Do Baptists use their creed to prove their doctrine 
true and yours false? No! You certainly are very 
ignorant of Baptist practice if you do not know that 

t E. G. Robinson, D. D.. L L. D. President of Brown Univer- 
sity: — "Creeds have been abused by misuse of them. . . In the 
Presbyterian Church an appeal to the standards is final. If its min- 
isters speaknot according to the letter of the confessions and cate- 
chisms, they are condemnable and condemned. In the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, the question of orthodox}' is speedily settled 
by recurrence to the book of Discipline. The Protestant Episco- 
pal church has gone still further." — Madison Ave. Lect.,p 416,417. 



564 



CAMPBELLISM A NEST OF HERESIES 



their creed is used in all these things only to show what 
Baptists believe. We have written creeds for only 
two purposes: first, as a test of agreement upon the 
Bible; second, that every honest man may know what 
we are agreed the Bible teaches. Thus, our Confession 
of Faith, of the "Seven Churches of London," in 
1646, is introduced : "Published for the vindication of 
the Truth and Informntion of the Ignorant: likewise 
for the taking off of those aspersions which are 
frequently, both in pulpit and print, unjustly cast 
upon them." Cuttings' Hist. Vindication, p. 113. 
The Confession, of 1689, is thus introduced: "It is 
now many years since divers of us (with other sober 
Christians, then living and walking in the way of the 
Lord, that we profess) did conceive ourselves to be 
under the necessity of publishing a Confession of our 
Faith, for the information and satisfaction of those 
who did not thoroughly understand what our principles 
were, or had entertained prejudices against our profes- 
sion, by reason of the strange representation of them, 
by some men of note who had taken very wrong 
measures, and accordingly led others into misappre- 
hensions of us, and them : and this was first put forth 
about the year 1643 .... Since which time divers 
impressions thereof have been dispersed abroad, and 
our end proposed, in good measure answered, inas- 
much as many (and some of those men eminent 
both for piety and learning) were thereby satisfied, 
that we were in no way guilty of those heterodoxies, 
and fundamental errors, which had too frequently been 
charged upon us without ground, or occasion given on 
our part. And forasmuch, as this confession is not 
now commonly to be had, and also that many others 
have since embraced the truth which is owned therein, 



AND AN ECCLESIASTICAL PIRATE, 



565 



it was judged necessary by us to join together in giving 
a testimony to the world, of our firm adhe*ing to those 
principles, by the publication of these which is now in 
our hand. ... In those things wherein we differ from 
others, we have expressed ourselves with candor and 
plainness, that none might entertain jealousy of aught 
secretly lodged in our breasts, that we would, not that 
the world should be acquainted w r ith. — Cuttings' Hist. 
Vindication, p. 130. Every one of these confessions 
says that the Bible is the only Baptist rule of faith and 
practice. As an example, the New Hampshire Con- 
fession: — "We believe that the Holy Bible . . is and 
shall remain to the end of the world, the true centre of 
Christian union, and the supreme standard by which 
all human conduct, creeds and opinions should be 
tried/' — Art. 1. The Journal and Messenger : 4 'The 
boast of Baptists, a thing ingrained into the ivarpand 
woof of their denominational system, that they were 
independent of human creeds and relied upon the Bible 
alone for their authority in religion and never .... 
have we heard a Baptist refer to the Articles of Faith 
as authority on a religious question." Of this the 
Examiner : "We took this to be a fundamental truth, 
so universally accepted among our people that the 
question could never arise among them as to what that 
faith and practice was." 6 6 The Bible .... is the all 
sufficient and the only authority." — The Church, by 
Harvey, D. D., p. 20. "To the Bible— the Bible 
only." — CrowelVs Ch. Man., p. 5. "These Articles 
of Faith are not intended as in any sense, as substitute 
for the Word of God." — J. M. Pendleton's Ch.Man., 
p. 16. E. Adkins, D. D. : "Let it never be forgotten 
that the Bible is our only authoritative Guide." — The 
Ch., its Polity, p. 171. J. L. Dagg, D. D. : "The 



566 



CAMPBELLISM A NEST OF HERESIES 



Church . . . could not rely for support upon human 
authority. . . It is our duty to maintain the ordi- 
nances, etc .... in strict and scrupulous conformity 
to the Holy Scripture."— Ch. Order, p. 288. J. R. 
Graves, L L. D. : 4 'It is with the word of God we 
have to do." — Graves-Ditzler Debate, p. 14. "The 
Bible is the only standard of Christian doctrine and 
duty." — A* Hovey,D.D., on p. 6, of Mad. Ave. Led. 
E. G. Robinson, D. D.: "Baptists have no authori- 
tative creed."— Mad. Ave. Led. p. 418. D. B. Ray, 
D. D. : "The Baptists regard the Bible alone as their 
rule of faith and practice." — Baptist Succession, p. 
19. T. H. Pritchard, D. D. : "We hold that the 
Bible is the supreme, the sufficient, the exclusive and 
absolute rule in all matters of religious faith and prac- 
tice." — Baptist Doctrines, p. 270. Francis Wayland, 
D. D. : "We propose to take as our guide in all mat- 
ters of religious belief and practice, the New Testa- 
tament, the whole New Testament." — idem, p. 270. 
J. L. M. Curry, D. D. : "Baptists differ fundamen- 
tally from Pedo-baptists in practically adhering to the 
New Testament as the sufficient, the exclusive and the 
absolute rule of faith and practice." — idem, p. 27 1 . 
Baptists stand upon only "the infallible word of 
God." — Rev. J. B. Gambrell, (editor of the Record) 
Bap. Doctrines, p. 300. So Hiscox's Church Man., 
p. 56, Paxtons Apostolic Ch., p. 333; Andrew 
Fuller s Works, vol. 3, p. 451, et ad infinitum. 
Candid Campbellites concede that Baptists pro- 
fess to be governed by the Bible alone. Thus B. B. 
Tyler says: "Baptists, I think, claim to be governed 
by the Bible alone." — in Western Recorder. The 
"Christian'* Evangelist : "Both Baptists and Disciples 
claim to have the Bible alone as their rule of faith 



AND AN ECCLESIASTICAL PIRATE. 



567 



and practice." — The Am. Bap. Flag. Carnpbellites 

charging that the Baptists make their creed their guide 

and authority, can but call up : — 

"For optics keen it needs I ween 
To see what is not to be seen." 

2. But Carnpbellites say: "Oh, it is the abuse of 
creeds to which we object." In answer to this, (1), 
I say, if so, all right. Go on. (2) But have the 
judgment to not "burn down the house to get rid of 
the rats." No wise man proposes to do away with 
privileges, helps and blessings because they are abused. 
(3) Baptists have not abused creeds. (4) If the 
abuse is the only objection to creeds, please, believe, 
that all may know what you, as Carnpbellites believe, 
adopt a creed to use without its abuse. If you will 
not you have no right to complain at being misun- 
derstood. But — by the way: I venture the assertion 
that Carnpbellites can no more agree on a creed than 
can infidels or than they can agree upon a name for 
their sect. Like infidels, except on some things, 
Carnpbellites cannot agree. Having answered the 
Campbellite objections to creeds : — 

(5) Their real objections to creeds is that they 
would rob them of ecclesiastical piracy. 

(1) The secret of Mr. Campbell's warfare, and of 
that of all his followers, on the Baptist creed is that it 
cuts off Carnpbellites from their fellowship. For it 
makes them tell tvhether they are enemies or friends to 
truth , be for e they can run their boat up to the Old Ship 
of Zion. 

(2) If Carnpbellites were to have a creed, they 
could not, where there are but few Baptists, inveigle 
them into their societies by the false plea : "You don't 
differ much from us; and, as you have no Church, or 



568 



CAMPBELLISM A NEST OF HERESIES 



but a weak one, join us and let us work together." By 
this plan thousands of Baptists have been seduced into 
Campbellite societies. 

(3) A creed would prevent Campbellism from be- 
ing a nest and cage of heresies. Said Mr. Campbell : 
"All the platforms, all the foundations of the sects, 
are, therefore, too narrow and too weak to sustain the 
millennial Church, and, therefore, must be pulled 
down " — Mill. Harb., vol. l,p. 57 — quoted in Text 
Book on Campb. p. 322. The objection is not to the 
truth of the creeds, but to their exclusiveness — "too 
narrow and too weak" to hold all beliefs! Mr. Camp- 
bell lays down his platform, framed for the purpose of 
sustaining heresies : "The belief of one fact . . . 
is all that is requisite, so far as faith goes, to salva- 
tion. The belief of this one fact and submission to 
one institution, expressive of it, is all that is re- 
quired of heaven to admission into the Church."— 
Christian System, p. 122. Mr. Campbell adds that 
the one fact is "that Jesus the Nazarene is the Mes- 
siah" and the "one institution is baptism into the 
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
Spirit." — idem, p. 122. There, now! Surely this is 
broad enough. It says nothing about depravity, sin, 
regeneration, pardon, justification, the inspiration of 
the Bible, the constitution of the Church, the souls' 
immortality, or even heaven or hell! About the only 
ones it excludes are the Jews and the out and out Inger- 
sollites. The platform is broad enough for "Soul 
Sleepers," Annihilationists, Seventh Dayi^ts, Sweden- 
borgians, Universalists, Socinians, Arians, Mormons, 
etc., for they all agree to these two articles of Mr. 
Campbell's creed. The result is that Campbellism 
contains a great variety of birds of heresy. One Mr. 



AND AH ECCLESIASTICAL PIRATE. 569 



Bains, a Universalist preacher, presented himself for 
admission to the Mahoning Campbellite Association, 
professing Universalism. On the suggestion of Mr. 
Campbell, he was received on condition "that if these 
peculiar opinions were held as private opinions, and 
not taught by this brother, he might be, and constitu- 
tionally ought to be, retained." — Mill. Harb.,vol l 9 p. 
148 — quoted in Text Book on Campb. 9 p. 325. These 
great questions as in the union of Campbellism with 
Stonism, Mr. Campbell and his followers call only 
"opinions!" He says : "So long as union of opinion 
was regarded as the proper basis of religious union, so 
long have mankind been distracted by the multiplicity 
of sects," — Christian System, p. 121 . Dr. Thomas, 
one of Mr, Campbell's disciples, undertook to carry 
out the glorious ( ?) reformaton to completion by re- 
immersing all the Campbellites who had not been im- 
mersed to save them. 

Mr. Campbell accuses Thomas with teaching that "all 
infants, idiots and heathens sleep through endless dura- 
tion — they can never rise." "All Methodists, Old Side 
Baptists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians and sinners will 
be raised to the damnation or annihilation." "Eternal 
life or existence conditional. . . . Man has no soul 
nor existence separate, distinct aud independent from 
the body," etc. After a debate between Mr. Campbell 
and his disciple, they agreed to settle matters by a 
council. They settled it upon the following: "lie- 
solved, That whereas certain things believed and prop- 
agated by brother Thomas, in relation to the mortality 
of man, the resurrection of the dead, and the final desti- 
ny of the wicked, having given offense to many breth- 
reni and being likely to produce a division among us ; 
and believing the said views to be of no particular benefit, 



570 



CAMPBELLISM A NEST OF HERESIES. 



we recommend to brother Thomas to discontinue the 
discussion of the same, unless in his defense when mis- 
represented. Paiuville, Amelia Co., Va. . Nov. 15, 
1838."— Mill. Harb., Vol. 3, p. 74, quoted in Text 
Booh on Campbellism, p. 329 ; Lexington Debate, p. 
856 ; Rice on Camp., p. 13. But surely, according 
to Campbellism, Mr. Thomas had as much right to 
preach his views as had Mr. Campbell to preach his. 
Yet, because Thomas was not so influential, Mr. Camp- 
bell, after having brought him in with the agreement 
that he should hold and preach his "opinions," now 
tries to shut his mouth ! Mr. Campbell said: "There 
is a growing taste for opinionisms in the ranks of the 
reformation. This must be quashed or there will be 
an end to all moral and religious improvement. . . . 
It is owing to the patience of contradictions and the 
great good sense of some of our more intelligent breth- 
ren, that schisms have not already appeared among us 
under the assumption that every Christian has the right 
to propagate his opinions." — Mill. Harb., Vol. 1 , p. 
439—441. Mr. Campbell says : "Every sort of doc- 
trine has been proclaimed by almost all sorts of preach- 
ers, under the broad banners and with the supposed 
sanction of the begun reformation." — Mill. Harb., Vol. 
6, ISFo. 2, p. 64 — quoted in Text Book on Campb., p. 
333, and Rice on Campbellism, p. 17. 

Of this I have seen many illustrations. Some 
Campbellite preachers preach that Jesus was regener- 
ated by baptism. When I was pastor in Wheat her- 
ford, Tex., a Universnlist preacher visited me to know 
if he could be admitted into the Baptist church on con- 
dition that he would keep silent on the subject. On 
telling him "of course not," he went and joined the 
Campbellite Church of the same city. See Amos 3 :3 : 



CA3IPBELLISM ANTI-SCRIPTURAL. 



571 



1 Cor. 11:2; Gal. 5:12; 1 Tim. 1:20; 2 Thess. 3 : 
6; 2 John 10:11; Kev. 2 :2, 14-16, 20, 24. See next 
chapter. 



CHAPTEK XXX. 

CAMPBELL1SM ANTI-SCRIPTURAL UPON CHURCH AUTHOR- 
ITY AND COMMUNION. 

Campbellites admit to the 6 'Lord's Supper" — what 
they call the Supper, though only the New Testament 
Church sets the Supper — those whom their doctrine 
says are the ' ' children of the devil." We have seen 
that Campbellites regard all who are not immersed as 
in their sins and ' 'children of the devil." They, also, 
denounce Baptists, and other immersed persons as be- 
ing 1 'in Babylon." Yet, they offer to "commune" 
with all these Babylonians, etc. They excuse them- 
selves on the plea that the Church has no right to de- 
bar any one from the Supper. In reply to this : — 

1. If the Church has no right to say who may com- 
mune, then it has no right to say who maybe baptized. 
As wrong to "judge" in the one case as in the other. 

2. If the Church has no authority to say who shall 
and who shall not receive the ordinances, then the or- 
dinances are as much in the hands of all men as they 
are in care of the Church. 

3. If the church has no authority to say who shall 
receive the ordinances, then it is the only organization 
which has no control over its ceremonies and institu- 
tions ! 



572 



CAMPBELLISM ANTI-SCRIPTURAL 



4. If the church has no control over the ordinances, 
"Church privileges'' are a farce, since they are no 
more "Church privileges," than they are the world's 
privileges. 

5. If there are no "Church privileges" there is no 
necessity for the Church; and nothing gained by hav- 
ing it. 

6. If all men are to be their "own judges" of 
their fitness for the ordinances, there can be no Church 
exclusion, since an excluded member retains fellowship 
in Church privileges ! 

7. The Scriptures make the Churches the custodi- 
ans of the ordinances and of all affairs of the kingdom 
of Christ, on earth. The Commission says, disciple, 
baptize and teach them to observe all the institutions 
of Christ.— Matt. 28: 19,20. (a) Those who make 
disciples are, naturally, the judges of the progress and 
rights of the disciple. (b) Peter, on Pentecost, in 
that he commanded certain persons to be baptized, 
judged of their fitness for baptism. — Acts 2 :38. (c) 
In asking "can any man forbid water," Peter implied 
that water can be Scripturally forbidden for persons 
who are unfit for baptism. — Acts 10:47,48. (d) In 
Philip saying to the Eunuch, "if thou believest with 
all thy heart thou mayest," he implied his right to re- 
fuse to baptize him, if he regarded him as not born 
again. — Compare Acts 8 :37, with 1 John 5:1. 

The Churches were given the ordinances through the 
first ministers. (1) Compare Acts 16 :4: 1 Cor. 11 : 
2. (2) The Church is "the pillar and the ground of 
the truth."— 1 Tim. 3: 15. (3) In caring for the 
things of the kingdom, the churches baptize — through 
their officers — those whom they think are believers mto 
their membership. "Him that is weak in the faith 



UPON CHURCH AUTHORITY. 573 

receive ." — Rom. 14 :1. (a) How receive if no author- 
ity to receive or reject? (6) Again, if the Church is 
not the judge, how can it know whether the candidate 
is 4 'weak" or strong in the faith — or whether he has 
any faith at all? (c) Proslambanesthe — npoaXafi^d- 
veade — means,to admit to one's society and fellowship." 
— Robinson' s and the other Lexicons, Adam Clarke : 
"Receive him into your fellowship;" so Comp. Com., 
Doddridge, etc. See 2 Cor. 2 :6-10, where the Church 
receives back into her membership excluded mem- 
bers. (4) In caring for the interests of the kingdom 
the churches exclude members. — 1 Cor. 5 : 4-9 ; 2 
Thess. 3:6; Rev. 2 : 14, 15, 20 ; 3:10; Matt. 18:17-19. 
(5) The Church is to watch, guard the interests of 
the kingdom as a soldier, on guard, guards what is 
under his care. Teereo — zvjpea) — rendered "observe" 
in the Commission— Matt. 28 : 20 — means to "watch, 
to observe attentively, to keep the eyes fixed upon, to 
keep, to guard, e, g., a prisoner, a person arrested, 
. ... to keep back, to keep in store, to reserve." — 
Robinsoyi's and other Lexs. In the following passages 
it isrendered, "watched," "keepers, ""keep, ""kept." 
—Matt. 26:36: 28:4; Mark 7:9; John 2:10; 12:7; 
17: 12, 15; Acts 12:5,6; 16:23; 24:23; 25:4,21; 2 
Tim. 4:7 ; James 1 :27. Thus the "keepers did shake;" 
"they watched him;" "Peter was kept in prison;" 
"the keepers before the door kept the prison ; " "charg- 
ing the jailer to keep them safely; 7 "commanded a 
centurion to keep Paul;" "that Paul should be kept 
in Caesarea ;" "I commanded him to be kept;" "keep 
yourselves in the love of God." Thus the church, at 
Philadelphia, is commended concerning the interests 
of the kingdom, in that "thou didst keep my word." 
—Rev. 3 :8. 



574 



CAMPBELLISM ANTI-SCRIPTURAL 



In 1 Cor. 11 :2, kateJcete — xavexere — "to hold down, 
to detain, to restrain, to retain, hold firm in grasp, to 
maintain" — see the Lexs. — is used — "keep the ordi- 
nances" — Revised Version, "hold fast." Thus we 
see, as plainly as that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, 
that as the Jews, under the Old Dispensation, had the 
exclusive care of the word, the ceremonies, etc., so 
has the Church under the new ; that the Church, as a 
soldier, with its eyes fixed on the interests of the 
kingdom, is to guard them — as the Commission reads, 
"teach them to guard all things whatsoever I have 
commanded you." As the Church, according to the 
word and the Spirit does this, Jesus is with it. — Matt. 
28:20. 

Answers to an Objection. 

All that is necessary to say to "let a man examine 
himself," etc. — 1 Cor. 11 :28 — is, that this is said ex- 
clusively of members of a Scriptural Church. — 1 Cor. 
is written to a Scriptural Church* — 1 Cor. 1:2. 

8. Campbellite concessions to the Baptist position 
being Scriptural. 

Alexander Campbell: "We do not recollect that we 
ever argued out the merits of the 'free and open 
communion system.' But one remark we must offer 
in passing, that we must regard it as one of the weak- 
est and most vulnerable causes ever plead ; and the 
'great' Mr. Hall, as he is called, has in his defense of 
the practice made it appear worse than before. In at- 
tempting to make it reasonable, he has only proved 
how unreasonable and unscriptural it is. " — Mill. 
Harb., Vol. i?, p. 393 — in Ray-Lucas Debate 9 p.421 . 
Apostolic Ti??ies: "But I do not believe that the un- 
immersed can set the Lord's table ; at least I do not 
believe that they do it."— Feb. 29, 1872. M. E. 



UPON CHURCH AUTHORITY AND COMMUNION. 575 



Lard: "But suppose a man to be a true believer in 
Christ, to be truly penitent, to be sprinkled and not 
immersed, and sincerely to think this baptism, to be 
strictly a moral man, and to feel in his heart that he is 
a Christian — what then? May he not commune? I 
answer, yes ; provided it can be first shown that sin- 
cerely thinking so transmutes an act of sprinkling into 
an act of immersion or causes God to accept the thing 
He has not appointed for the thing He has." — In 
Quarterly for 1863, pp. 41-52. Another number of 
the Apostolic Times says: "Open communion will 
not only kill Baptist Churches, but any other Churches 
holding immersion as the one baptism, in which it is 
adopted." Prof. J. W. McGarvey : "We believe that 
faith, repentance and baptism are the Scriptural pre- 
requisites to the Lord's Supper, and that no believer is 
entitled to the ordinance until he has been baptized. 
We believe the privilege belongs to all baptized believ- 
ers, who are leading an orderly life and to no others." 
— Apostolic Times, Nov. 7th, 1874— quoted. The 
American "Christian" Review, Cincinnati: " It is 
contrary to the w T ord of God to break bread and par- 
take of the cup with persons who have never been im- 
mersed into the death of Christ. See Eom. 6." — May 
10, 1881, in Baptist Banner. But that Campbell- 
ites generally "set an open table" is well known ! 

Dr. John Hall, Presbyterian: "There is a tendency 
to heap censure on the Baptists in this country because 
of the views generally held and acted upon regard- 
ing the Lord's Supper. 'Close Communion' ... is 
being assailed by many in the interests of Catholicity. 
It is a doubtfid Catholicity to raise a popular cry 
against a most valuable body of people, who honestly 
defend and consistently go through what they deem an 



576 



CAMPBELLISM ANTI-SCRIPTURAL 



important principle . Our love for our brethren should 
surely include the Baptist brethren. And it is doubt- 
ful if, considering the lengths to which liberal ideas 
have been carried in this country, there be not some 
gain to the community, as a whole from a large de- 
nomination making a stand at a particular point, and 
reminding their brethren that there are church matters 
which we are not bound, and not even at liberty, to set- 
tle according to popular demand, as we would settle 
the round of a Railroad" — (My italics.)! 

In some places — I know not how general this is — 
Campbellites have so logically and consistently carried 
out their "let every man be his own judge : the church 
has no right to judge any one," as to exclude no one 
from their societies — whatever he may be guilty of ! ! 
In a debate with me, Mr. T. W. Caskey , one of the ablest 
and most noted Campbellite preachers, advocated this 
with all its broadness and openness ! 

fl have deemed it unnecessary to enter into an elaborate and 
distinct Scriptural argument for Restricted Communion. In the 
Commission — Matt. 28:19-20 — the first thing is to disciple; the 
second, to baptize This brings into Church fellowship . Com-' 
pare Acts 2 :41 ; Rom. 6:3; John 3 5 ; 1 ('or. 12 -.13. (The original 
here is, in the New Version, correctly rendered, i Hn one Spirit 
we are all baptized into one body ' — i. e. having by grace been 
brought into the Spirit we are then baptized into the Church.) 
So the denominations agree that where there is no baptism there 
is no Church membership. The third is Church life, the Supper, 
etc , etc. "Ye may eat and drink at my table IN my kingdom.* 
—Luke 22:30. This makes an orderly walk-membership in a Scrip- 
tural Church the only and the essential prerequisite to the Lord s 
Supper. From all but orderly-walking members or persons all 
Church fellowship must be withheld and withdrawn, — 2 Thess. 
3 6. The statement that "baptism is the prerequisite to the 
Supper" is incorrect and pernicious, inasmuch as i r states but 
apart of the truth. The prerequisite is : An orderly walk or mem- 
bership in a Scriptural Church. 



THE LORD'S TABLE NOT EVERY SABBATH. 577 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

THE SCRIPTURES DO NOT MAKE IT THE DUTY OF THE 
CHURCHES TO "SET THE LORD'S TABLE" 
EVERY SABBATH. 

That there is anything "wrong in setting the Lord's 
Table" every Sabbath, Baptists do not claim. Some 
Baptist Churches "commune every Sabbath; some, 
once every month ; some, once every three months, 
while others do not "commune" so often. They un- 
derstand the Scriptures to leave the frequency of par- 
taking the Supper to be decided by the Churches. But 
Campbellites teach that the Scriptures obligate the 
Churches to partake of the Supper every Sabbath. As 
A. Campbell has presented the strongest argument 
which I have ever seen for every Sabbath communion, 
1 will refute his arguments upon this subject. My re- 
ply is to his arguments in "The Christian System." 

I. Mr. Campbell's arguments are unsound or 
against his own position. 

1. Mr. Campbell says that Acts 20:7 proves the 
first Churches communed every Sabbath. To this I 
reply: All it proves is that the disciples communed on 
the Sabbath. But Mr. Campbell says the inference 
that they communed every Sabbath is as natural as it 
would be to infer every 4th day of July celebra- 
tion from one such celebration on that day. But, I 
reply to this : (a) The argument (?) proves too much 
since it would equally prove that Jesus was crucified 
on the Sabbath, because the Declaration was declared 



578 



THE LORD'S TABLE 



on the very day in which the celebration occurred- 
(b) No one regards it the demand of loyalty and pa- 
triotism to celebrate every 4th of July, (c) Many 
towns, etc., do not celebrate every 4th. They cele- 
brate the day with no regularity as to the frequency 
of its celebration. So do Baptists the Supper. The 
argument of Mr. Campbell, therefore, is against his 
own position. 

2. But Mr. Campbell claims that if Acts 20: 7 
does not prove every Sabbath communion it does 
not prove every Sabbath observance. To this I 
reply : Taken alone, Acts 20 :7 would not prove every 
Sabbath observance, any more than would the fact 
that Jesus partook of the Supper on a week day night 
proves that it should be observed on a week-day night. 

3. But Mr. Campbell thinks a comparison of Acts 
2 :42 ; 20 :7 ; 1 Cor. 11 :20 ; 16:12 proves every Sab- 
bath communion. To this the reply is : Acts 2 :42 ; 1 
Cor. 11:20 say nothing about how often we are to 
commune, while Acts 20 : 7, speaks only of a Sabbath 
when they met'to commune ; and 1 Cor. 16 : 1,2, says 
nothing of and does not even allude to communion. 
These passages will now apply to any Church which 
does not commune more than once in a month, or, 
even once in a year. 

4. Mr. Campbell says : " No argument can be ad- 
duced from the New Testament of any Christian 
congregation assembling on the first day of the week, 
unless for the breaking of the bread." To this the 
reply is : Then we have no use for the Sabbath except 
to set the table! 7 

5. Mr. Campbell says : "If it be not the duty and 
privilege of every Christian congregation to assemble 
on the first day of every week to show forth the Lord's 



NOT EVERY SABBATH. 



579 



death, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to show 
that it is their duty and privilege to meet monthly, 
quarterly, semi-annually, or indeed at all, for this pur- 
pose." To this I reply : True ; but the Supper is but 
one of the many ways by which the Sabbath, f under 
the new, shows forth the Lord's death. Every Sab- 
bath worship, in preaching, singing, praying, etc., 
shows forth His death. 

6. But Mr. Campbell says : 6 6 Spiritual as well as 
corporal health requires, proper, regular intervals, for 
eating." To this the reply is: True; but the prop- 
osition does not prove what are those intervals — 
how often we must eat. A church which sets the 
supper, at any regular time as regularly eats as does 
the man who eats but once or twice a day. Some 
eat natural food once per day; some twice; some 
three times ; some oftener. Yet, they are all healthy. 
So of the Supper. Campbellites, certainly, if Mr. 
Campbell's argument is worth anything, ought to be 
too good to die ; and therefore we should expect them 
to be like Elijah, translated! 

7. Mr. Campbell says: "But, in the last place, 
what commemorative institution of any age, under any 
religious economy, was ordained by divine authority, 
which had not a fixed time of observance." To this I 
reply: (a) Not all such institutions are thus regulat- 
ed. Thus, the rainbow, which reminds us of the flood, 
and that there will not be another one, does not appear 
regularly. (6) Admitting Mr. Campbell's premise, it 
does not prove that the Supper may not be an "excep- 
tion to the rule." (c) The reference to the laws, 

t The Campbellite notion, that the Sabbath — the ten com- 
mandments, were abolished is certainly false. The Sabbath, 
under the new, is, by Christ, set upon the first day of the week. 



580 



THE LORD'S TABLE 



fixing the time for the observance of all commemora- 
tive institutions, disproves the thing for which it is 
produced to prove. Why ? Simply because they were 
all so specifically and positively fixed as to leave no room 
for inference or misunderstanding, as to the time and 
frequency of their observance. But no one claims any 
specific or positive law, fixing the frequency of the ob- 
servance of the Supper. Mr. Campbell's arguments are 
all inferential ; and like those for infant rantism, falla- 
cious. If then, the frequency for the observance of 
the Supper had beeu fixed, like the institutions to which 
Mr. Campbell refers and alludes, we could put our fin- 
ger upon the specific, positive, unmistakable law — not 
inferences — which so fixes it. 

8. Mr. Campbell appeals to some human writers 
to support his view. But, (a) some of them do not 
advocate Mr. Campbell's notion. (6) Some, whom 
he quotes, prove too much for him. He thus quotes 
John Calvin : "Every week, at least, the table of the 
Lord should have been spread." "At least" implies 
that the supper, first, may be taken on other than Sab- 
bath days; second, that there is no law regulating the 
frequency of its observance. 

9. Mr. Campbell appeals to Church history. But, 
(a) many to whom he appeals practiced many serious 
errors. (6) Some of his witnesses are against him. 
Thus, he quotes Henry: "In the primitive times it 
was the custom of many Churches to receive the Lord's 
Supper every Lord's Day." But why say "many" if 
it were universal among the first churches? And if it 
were not then universal, how can he claim that there 
was any law for every Sabbath communion? That 
some of the primitive Churches observed the Supper 
every Sabbath, while some did not, tends to prove that 



NOT EVERY SABBATH. 



581 



\ 

there was no law regulating the frequency of its ob- 
servance. 

II. I not only urge that many of Mr. Campbell's 
arguments are against his position, but I add the fol- 
lowing : 

1. The Scripture: — "For as often as ye eat this 
bread," etc. — 1 Cor. 10:26 — implies that we are at 
liberty to observe it weekly, monthly, quarterly, etc. — 
so we do not cease to observe it. 

2. All positive institutions are, as to all their es- 
sential laws and regulations, governed by positive law. 
This law is plainly declared ; never to be inferred. As 
no positive law fixes the frequency of the observance of 
the Supper, it is clear that its frequency is left option- 
al with the Churches. 

But Mr. Campbell replies : "If its frequency is left 
to us we may commune but once in our lifetime. As 
well say that because the frequency of secret prayer, 
prayer-meetings, singing, eating, sleeping, etc., is left 
to us, we may pray but once in secret, attend but one 
prayer-meeting, sing but once, eat but one meal and 
sleep but one sleep, etc., during our lifetime ! ! ! Had 
Mr. Campbell been able to point to a "thus saith the 
Lord" for every Sabbath communion, he would not 
have been driven to such foolish argument. 

3. Yearly communion has more appearance of 
plausibility than weekly communion. Why? Because 
the Passover was observed annually ; and the Supper 
being instituted at the close of the Passover, with no 
express statement that it, too, was to not be observed annu- 
ally, would, at first view, appear to be designed for an- 
nual observance. Of course, this is not a legitimate 
inference. But it has more of seeming legitimacy than 
has weekly communion. 



582 CAMPBELLISM IS MORMONISM AND 

4. Wednesday or Thursday night communion has 
as much support as every Sabbath communion.! 

The Campbellite quotes Acts 20:7: "On the first 
day of the week" they came together "to break 
bread," and declares, "therefore, every first day of 
the week." So one may refer to Matt. 27 :26-29, and 
declare, therefore, the Supper should be observed every 
Wednesday or Thursday night ! 

From the nature of Mr. Campbell's arguments and 
the added negative arguments, we can safely say that 
the frequency of the observance of the Supper is left 
to be regulated by the churches. 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

CAMPBELLISM, TO A GREAT EXTENT, MORMONISM AND 
MORMONISM A SPROUT OF CAMPBELLISM. 

I do not include in the heading of this chapter po- 
lygamy and some other errors of Mormonism. Polyg- 
amy and some other errors were after inventions of 
Mormonism. A sect of Mormons repudiate polygamy; 
and hold, substantially, Campbellism. 

1. Campbellism and Mormonism agreeing in doc- 
trine. Eev. S. Williams, who was very familiar with 
Mormonism, its rise and progress, in 1842, published 
a pamphlet, entitled "Mormonism Exposed." In that 
he showed that Sidney Eigdon was excluded from the 
Baptists for advocating, among other errors, the fol- 



fl say "Wednesday or Thursday night" as there is a controver- 
sy as to which of these nights it was instituted on. 



MORMOKISM IS A SPROUT OF CAMPBELLISM. 583 



lowing : "1. That Christians are not under obligations 
to keep the moral law, it having been abolished by our 
Savior. . . , 3. That a change of heart consists 
merely in a change of views and baptism. 4. That 
there is no such thing as religious experience. 5. That 
saving faith is a mere crediting of the testimony given 
by the evangelists, such as all have in the truth of any 
other history. 6. That it is wrong to use the Lord's 
prayer, inasmuch as the reign of Christ had already 
commenced." These, except the first and the last, 
the reader of this book has seen are fundamental doc- 
trines of Campbellism. See the Chapters of this book 
on regeneration, repentance, faith, and the witness and 
the work of the Spirit . The last error Campbellism 
equally holds. Thus A. Campbell says : 4 'No person 
with common understanding of the first five books of 
the New Testament can pray, in the sense of the 
Lord's prayer for the coming of a kingdom which came 
1800 years ago."— Mill. Harb., Vol. 5, p. 544— in 
Ray*s Text Book on Campbellism. As to the abolition 
of the moral law the Old Testament Campbellites are 
well known to claim that it w 7 as abolished and that 
Christ instituted a new law. 

But Mr. Williams pointed out other Mormon errors 
w 7 hich are fundamental to Campbellism. Says Mr. 
Williams of Eigdon : "The doctrine of baptismal 
regeneration, as baptism for (to procure) remission of 
sins was the leading error of Mr. Eigdon. The others 
all followed in train. This being the premise, taken 
for granted, Arianism was adopted at once ; for if by 
baptism we obtain remission, then blood divine was not 
indispensable to wash away sin; and hence they (Eig- 
don' s party) and the Arians of the West in a short 
time coalesced." This is just what Chapter 24, of 



584 



CAMPBELLISM IS MORMONISM AND 



this book, proves took place in the history of Camp- 
bellism. Mr. Williams proceeds : 6 'Nor had they any 
service for the Holy Spirit to perform in this scheme, 
except for necromantic purposes, inasmuch as baptism 
was the regenerating process, or as a kind of reward 
held out to tempt men to crucify the Son of God 
afresh, by relying upon baptism for pardon, instead of 
trusting in His blood." Except the " necromancy" 
this, we have seen, in the Chapters of this book on 
the work of the Spirit, and on Campbellism and bap- 
tismal regeneration, is fundamental to Campbellism. 
To this, like Campbellism, Mormonism adheres to a 
blind, literal interpretation of the Bible u»pon the sym- 
bolism of the ordinances, etc. Mormonism, like 
Campbellism, believes in the apostasy of the Church, 
and in restoring the ' 'ancient order of things" — in 
originating a new Church. Says Mr. Williams : Rig- 
don "frequently spoke of restoring the ancient order 
of things." — See Chapter 9, of this book. Mormon- 
ism also, as did A. Campbell, when he began his, so- 
called, reformation, slandered ministers, by saying 
they "milched the goats;" that ministers were sec- 
tarian hirelings — See the part of this book on the 
early history of Campbellism. 

Thus Mormonism, with Campbellism, agrees upon 
the following fundamental errors: First, the abolition 
of the moral law, of the Old Testament ; second, that 
a change of heart is not miraculous, but is a mere 
change of views ; third, that man is not totally de- 
praved ; fourth, that the Spirit does not miraculously 
or personally regenerate ; fifth, that baptism is regen- 
eration ; sixth, that faith is a mere intellectual belief 
in the truth of the testimony of the evangelists; sev- 
enth, that the Deity of Christ is of so little or no 



MORMONISM IS A SPROUT OF CAMPBELLISM. 585 

worth, that Campbellites united with non-believers on 
His Deity; eighth, that the blessed Bride or Church 
of Christ has become an ecclesiastical harlot or an ec- 
clesiastical apostate ; ninth, that men are to reform 
her or originate new Churches; tenth, that the Lord's 
prayer should not be prayed; eleventh,that the Script- 
ures, on the symbolism of baptism, are to be liter- 
ally interpreted. Here are eleven fundamental errors , 
which would utterly destroy Christianity, held in com- 
mon by Campbellism and Mormonism. 

Rev. H. L. Morehouse, D. D., Secretary of the 
American Baptist Home Mission Society, to whom, 
through the Home Mission Monthly, of May, 1885, I 
am indebted for the above quotations from Mr. Wil- 
liams, says: "Attention has been attracted to the 
striking similarity between some of the doctrines of 
the Campbellites and those of the Mormons, as con- 
tained in the 'Doctrine of the Covenants.' This is 
significant as bearing upon Rigdon's relation to both 
systems. Thus, in a 'revelation' to one Phelps it is 
said : 'After thou hast been baptized by water, which 
if you do with an eye single to my glory, you shall 
have a remission of your sins, and a reception of the 
Holy Ghost ... In the index to this authorized book 
of 'Doctrine and Covenants' is a reference as follows: 
'Baptism necessary for salvation,' and turning to p. 
87, we read in the 'Commandments of the Apostles,' 
'Every soul who believeth on your words, and is bap- 
tized by water for the remission of* sins, shall receive 
the Holy Ghost.' " 

Campbellites may reply to this: "But look at our 
differences." To this I say: Since Campbellites 
differ among themselves as easily can they prove that 
none of them are Campbellites, by making the same 



586 



CAMPBELLISM IS MORMONISM AND 



challenge; for the differences between Campbellites 
and Mormons are far less than the agreements. And 
as to polygamy,Kev. H. J. Eddy, D. D., well remarks : 
"Mormonism, in its origin, was decidedly opposed to 
polygamy." — Home. Miss. Monthly, May, 1885. 
Not a fe?y Mormons not only repudiate polygamy but 
claim to be the true, original Mormons. 

2. Mormonism historically traced to Campbellism. 
Says Mr. Williams : 6 'Sidney Rigdon was reared on a 
farm about twelve miles from the city of Pittsburgh. 
He professed to experience a change of heart when a 
young man and proposed to join the Church under the 
care of Elder David Philips. But there was so much 
miracle about his conversion, and so much parade 
about his profession that the pious and discerning 
pastor entertained serious doubts, at the time, in re- 
gard to the genuineness of the work.t He was re- 
ceived, however, by the Church, and baptized by the 
pastor, with some fears and doubts upon his mind. 
Very soon, Diotrephes like, he put himself forward, 
seeking the pre-eminence, and was well nigh supplant- 
ing the tried and faithful minister who had reared 
and nursed and fed the Church for a long series of 
years. So thoroughly convinced was father Philips 
by this time th;it he was not possessed of the spirit of 
Christ. . . . that he declared his belief, 'that as long 
as he (Sydney) should live he would be a curse to the 
Church of Christ.' Some time after this he moved to 
Warren, Ohio, from which he came to this city, and 
connected himself with the First Regular Baptist 
Church, then in its infancy, January, 1822." 

t This is but one of the many evidences that Baptists never 
believed that 4 'sights," "sounds," "convulsions, M took place in 
conversion. 



MORMON ISM IS A SPROUT OF CAMPBELLISM 



587 



In an account, too long to here copy, Mr. Wil- 
liams tells us that Rigdon, soon after joining this 
Church, became its pastor. He tells us that his 
views soon got up so much dissatisfaction in the 
Church that, July 11, 1823, he was charged by a 
regular meeting of the Church, with preaching the 
abrogation of the Old Testament moral law; that 
a change of heart is only change of views ; that faith 
is mere intellectual belief ; that it is wrong to use the 
Lord's prayer; and, he then points out the other 
Campbellite views of Rigdon — see previous division of 
this Chapter for them — for which, by the advice of "a 
council of messengers and ministers from neighboring 
Churches, which convened in Pittsburgh, on October 
the 11th, 1823, " he was condemned, "while that part 
of the Church protesting against his errors were rec- 
ognized as the regular Church." This was very much 
like A. Campbell's course. And the following is much 
of A. Campbell's history, out and out. Mr. Williams 
continues: "From this time forward, like other men 
and seducers, he waxed worse and worse. After pro- 
claiming his false doctrines for some time in the Court 
House, he left the city and moved to the Western Re- 
serve in 1824. In the course of his peregrinations 
he did all the mischief he could to the Churches which 
gave him permission to preach in their houses,! and 
in numbers of cases succeeded in forming a party and 
securing to them the property of those Churches, not 
by legal right, but by stratagem or force. During the 
interim between his exclusion from the Regular Bap- 
tist Denomination and the time of his avowal of Mor- 

t This is what good our churches receive from permitting her- 
etics to use their church houses. When will our churches obey 
2 John 10, 11? 



588 



CAMPBELLISM IS MORMONISM AND 



monism, he propagated the doctrines of Alexander 
Campbell, and circulated his periodicals and books. 
In fact, he was the first leading man converted from 
Baptist doctrines to those of Mr. Campbell. The doc- 
trine of baptismal regeneration, or baptism, for (to 
procure) the remission of sins was the leading error 
of Mr. Rigdon. The others all followed in train." 
From this, Mr. Williams continues Rigdon's history to 
where, 6 'remembering the failure of Simon Magus to 
purchase the power to work miracles, he procured the 
services of Joseph Smith, Jr., who soon became a 
partner with him in the concern ; having received his 
lessons in witchcraft from Beelzebub while Sydney Rig- 
don was preparing the 'Manuscript Found' under the 
tuition of Lucifer for the grand imposition to be prac- 
ticed upon the unwary and ignorant. All this, too, 
under the pretended sanction of the Holy Spirit . Mr. 
Williams, here, proves that Rigdon stole a Manuscript 
of a novel, written by Solomon Spaulding, in Ohio, 
between the years 1808 and 1811. Of this Rigdon 
made the Mormon "Bible." "Prior to 1827, Smith 
(Joseph Smith) was pretending to find silver and 
gold, money and jewelry, about Palmyra, O., by look- 
ing into his peep-stone, but never dreamed of the book 
■ of Mormon, until brought to him from Sidney Rig- 
don." 

H. J. Eddy, D. D., of N. Y., who is familiar with 
the early history of Mormonism, gives, substantially, 
the same account, and explains how Rigdon happens 
to not figure as prominently in Mormonism as does Jo- 
seph Smith. This was because Smith got a few more 
6 'revelations" ( ?) than did Rigdon, one of which read, 
concerning Smith: "Thou art blessed henceforth, that 
bear the keys of the kingdom given unto you . . . 



MORMONISM IS A SPROUT OF CAMPBELLISM. 



589 



thou shalt be called a seer, a translator, a prophet, an 
apostle of Jesus Christ, an elder of the Church.' ' 
Accordingly, the Church and the individual members 
are commanded 6 6 to keep the commandments which 
you have received by the hand of my servant, Joseph 
Smith." 

The sum of the origin of Mormonism is: 1. Sid- 
ney Rigdon hypocritically professed the truth and 
united with the Baptist Church. 2. If not a Camp- 
bellite, at the time he joined, he soon after became 
one. 3. He was excluded from the Baptist Church for 
the fundamental doctrines of Campbellism,. 4. He 
was Alexander Campbell's right hand man in seducing 
and dividing Baptist churches with Campbellism. 
5. He was the founder of Mormonism. 6. He found- 
ed Mormonism with Campbellite doctrines. 7. He 
never renounced or abandoned Campbellite doctrines. 
8. Campbellism and Mormonism are, to-day, much 
more alike than they are different. 9. To his Camp- 
bellism, Rigdon added the claims of 4 'revelations" etc. 
10. What Rigdon added to Campbellism wng added 
only to exalt himself and give him greater influence in 
propagating Campbellism. 

Thus we see that Campbellism and Mormonism are, 
to a very great extent, — fundamentally — the same in 
origin, principles, doctrines and history. f 

While in California, I had considerable acquaintance 
with Mormons, w T ho were not of the polygamous kind. 
I can, therefore, truly say, Mormon claims are as le- 
gitimate as are those of the Campbellites. Others 

t Had Church Succession been believed in, neither Mormonism 
nor Campbellism could have been successful. But, if the Church 
is ajiarlot any one may originate a new Church. 



590 



CAMPBELLLSM IS MORMONISM AND 



who have mingled with the members of these two sects 
bear the same testimony. 

Prof. Whitsitt, of the Southern Baptist Theological 
Seminary, a few years ago, in a lecture proved that 
Campbellism and Mormonism are very near akin. The 
Campbellites raised their hands in horror and de- 
nounced him. But he soon silenced their guns by un- 
deniable facts. 

The Western Recorder, of Louisville, contains the 
following: '-The Religious . Herald recently cited at- 
tention to the well-known fact that the Mormon gospel 
is identically the same as the 'ancient gospel' of the 
Campbellites, with the trifling exception that the Mor- 
mons insert the laying on of hands between the items 
of remission and the Holy Spirit. This is a point of 
great importance in the chain of proof that Mormon- 
ism sprung from Campbellism, and the circumstance 
is so indubitable, as we have several times pointed, 
that Prof. McGarvy admits it without hesitation. 
But the Herald also says that the Mormons re-baptize 
for the remission of sins, and suggests that in this re- 
gard they are more logical and consistent than the 
Campbellites. It requests the views of the Christian 
Standard on that point, and desires to know whether 
it does not think the Mormons in this respect have de- 
veloped the 'ancient gospel' w r ith better ability and 
success than the Campbellites. ^Ve hope the Herald 
will be more fortunate in its efforts to draw out the 
Standard than other people have been. Of late the 
Standard, for reasons of its own, which we do not 
pretend to be able to divine, has grown as 'dumb as 
an oyster' on these matters." 

The following shows that so near is Mormonism to 
Campbellism, that notwithstanding all the Campbellite 



MORMONISM IS A SPROUT OF CAMPBELLISM. 591 



pretensions to love Baptists — which, by the way, is 
only, in most cases, to hide their own deformity and as 
a passport to favor — Campbellites unwittingly ac- 
knowledge the nearness of the two sects. 66 We do not 
hesitate to say that an intelligent Mormon has a better 
understanding of the way in which a sinner can come 
to Christ and be saved than has the Western Recorder .'' " 
— The Christian Standard — quoted. Thus the lead- 
ing Campbellite paper owns lip to the likeness of 
Campbellism to Mormonism — "a better understanding 
of the way in which a sinner can* come to Christ and be 
saved" than have Baptists. — for all Baptists heartily 
endorse the Western Recorder. Let the reader turn 
back to that part of this chapter, in which Mormonism 
is proved to teach eleven fundamental Campbellite 
heresies as its foundation, and he will see that the 
"Christian" Standard, in the above quotation, meant 
what it said. To this the Religious Herald well adds: 
"No man among the Baptists has a better reputation 
for orthodoxy than has the editor of the Western Re- 
corder, and yet Bro. Errett does 'not hesitate' to pre- 
fer the gospel as preached by 'an intelligent Mormon' 
to that proclaimed by editor Caperton. So much the 
worse for Bro. Errett. His avowed preference for the 
Mormon faith to that of the Baptist will cause some 
people to wonder why he became so nervous over Prof. 
Whitsitt's charge that the two systems (his and the 
Mormon's) have much in common." 

Nothing is, therefore, clearer than that Mormonism 
and Campbellism are a "chip off the same block." 



592 



CAMFBELLISM CONDEMNED 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 

CAMPBELLISM CONDEMNED BY ITS FRUITS. 

"By their fruits ye shall know them." — Jesus 
Christ. Campbellites may point to their educational 
institutions, to their fine "Church" buildings, to their 
members who hold "positions in society," etc., as the 
fruits of their system. But I reply first, so can Rome, 
the "Mother of Harlots," and so canMormonism, etc. 
Second, inasmuch as these are to be found without 
Campbellism or any religion, there is no evidence that 
they are its fruits. Campbellites even point to Presi- 
dent Garfield. But his character was due, so far as 
earthly influence is concerned, to the venerable Presi- 
dent Hopkins, of Williams' College, by whom, in his 
younger days, he was moulded, and to whom he, him- 
self, attributed much of his greatness. 

I. The fruits of Campbellism negatively consid- 
ered. 

1. The Campbellite Church, during 1800 years of 
Christian history, being non-existent, did nothing in 
giving us our civilization and in saving men. This, 
Campbellites cannot deny, since Campbell founded 
their sect with Stone's aid. 

2. The Campbellite Church has not Christianized or 
civilized one tribe or nation. 

3. The Campbellite Church has done nothing to 
teach men that Jesus Christ's promise, to preserve His 
Church has been kept. 

4. The Campbellite Church has done nothing in 



BY ITS OWN FRUITS. 



593 



giving us our American Government. It was in exist- 
ence nearly half a century before the founders of Camp- 
bellism built and launched their craft. 

It may be truly said that if the Campbellite Church 
were blotted from the pages of history, the loss would 
not be observed or felt by the nations of earth or by 
Christianity. The world and the Church, during 1800 
years, moved on without the Campbellite Church, and 
Without it can move on until the end of time. 

II. Campbellism, in its fruits, considered positively . 

1. Campbellism has taught the world that the 
Bride or Church of Christ is an ecclesiastical harlot. 

2. It has taught the world that the "gates of hell" 
have prevailed "against" the Church. 

3. Campbellism has taught, by example, that men 
may originate new churches. 

4. By example, Campbellism has helped throw open 
the flood-gate to heretics and new sects. If one man 
may divide the Christian world with a new sect, so 
may all. 

5. Campbellism has added another "sect" to the 
babel of sectarian confusion. Campbell acknowledged 
it "a faction: consequently a sect." — Jeter on Camp- 
bellism, p, 101 . That Campbellism originated with 
the foolish design of uniting the sects does not better * 
the matter. As A. Campbell acknowledged: "All 
the modern sects have been got up with the desire of 
getting back to primitive Christianity." — Christian 
System, p. 102. 

6. Campbellism, by denying inherited and total de- 
pravity, has encouraged the sinner in believing his case 
not so desperate as the Bible makes it. Thus Camp- 
bellism has furnished Satan one of his chief helps to 
keep the sinner from the Great Physician and to in- 



594 



CAMPBELLISM CONDEMNED 



duce him to trust in forms. Long ago, Cainpbellism 
was prophetically condemned : — 6 'They have healed also 
the hurt of my people lightly, saying, Peace, peace, 
when there is no peace." — Jer. 6:14. 

7. Campbellism has substituted water for faith. 

8. Campbellism has, in reality, while pretending 
to teach the gospel, substituted and preached a differ- 
ent gospel than that of the Bible. 

9. While pretending to follow the Bible, Campbell- 
ism follows A. Campbell. A. Campbell refers those 
who want to know what Campbellites believe, to his 
writings: "I would refer those who may be solici- 
tous to examine these principles more fully" "espe- 
cially" to " the Christian Baptist," "as well as to 
other publications." — Christian System, p. 10. T. 
P. Haley, a leading Campbellite preacher, at the 
time he uttered the words, pastor of the first Camp- 
bellite Church, of St. Louis, said, of A. Campbell: 
The term Campbellism in this lecture is "used to in- 
dicate the views, the teaching or the system of doc- 
trine, or the body of divinity first promulgated and 
defended in the United States by the Campbells." — 
Globe-Democrat. Clarke Braden, a leading Campbel- 
lite, in the "Christian" of St. Louis, Nov. 26, 1874, 
as quoted in the Am. Bap. Flag, says: "Though we 
as a people are very sensitive about being called Camp- 
bellites and having our teaching called Campbellism, 
still I am inclined to think that many of us are, to 
some extent, Campbellites, Campbellites; and certain 
notions obtain among us that can properly be called 
Campbellisms. It would be strange indeed if such 
were not the case. When a man of Bro. Campbell's 
commanding abilities has left his impress upon the 



BY ITS OWN FRUITS. 



595 



age that he has on this, men of inferior abilities f 
will be very apt to follow him as a leader, even 
though he caution them as Bro. C. ever did against 
such a tendency. So there will be a likelihood of his 
views being adopted, and being allowed to pass un- 
questioned because they are his. We have a class of 
writers who are constantly referring to what « Bro. 
Campbell has said,' and to 'what he taught in the 
Christian Baptist and the Harbinger, and to the gos- 
pel as at first preached by our brethren.' " Yet 
Campbellites imagine that they follow the Bible ! ! 

10. By scoffing at prayer for sinners, at inherited 
and total depravity, at the work of the Spirit, at faith 
alone, at genuine revivals, Campbellism has, no doubt, 
led hundreds of thousands into perdition. 

Says the Journal and Messenger: "Rev. Thomas 
Munnell, one of the editors of the Apostolic Times, 
has an article in a recent number of that paper, head- 
ed ' Praying Before Baptism,' in which he tries to cor- 
rect an error into which he thinks many of his co-re- 
ligionists have fallen, in that there is no inquiry be- 
fore baptism as to the religious exercises of tlie candi- 
date ;J and he cites the case of a young man brought 

t Let any Campbellite, if he can, show where Campbellites, 
generally, do not equally follow Campbell 

X Just here, I enter my emphatic protest and warning against 
this tendency, which, among some of our Baptists, is being seen 
We hear little of repentance among them, but "-believe, believe, 
only believe "you can believe in a moment" while there is not 
an emotion of the heart, not a turning from whiskey drinking, 
from lying, impurity, dishonesty as to paying debts, keeping 
promises, as to business, and other statements and as to covet 
ousness, as to not loving God and man. Besides, some preachers 
ask the candidate for membership, "leading questions" which 
anyone can answer, let candidates whisper in their ears what 
they tell the Church, tell the Church that they have seen, talked 
with the candidate, and are well satisfied, and the candidate en- 



596 



CAMPBELLTSM CONDEMNED 



before the officers of a Church because of his habits 
of 'whiskey drinking and blasphemy.' To the ques- 
tion whether he had been in the habit of praying be- 
fore his baptism, he replied, 'No and when asked if 
he ever had prayed subsequently to his baptism — six 
months before— he answered, 'No.' In his reflections 
on the case and the peculiar liability of his brethren 
to receive unregenerated sinners into 4heir Churches, 
Mr. Munnell says : 

'The rebellion of the Christian Church against the 
mourners' bench system I fear has swung the pendu- 
lum so far the other w r ay that some ministers forget to 
teach and impress the work of prayer as they ought 
even after their candidates are baptized. In my own 
preaching I go back of that and urge those to pray 
w T ho have not confessed themselves to be sinners, love 
the Savior and be fit for baptism. And as we have 
prayed for their conversion before they came forward, 
so very often after they come we all kneel down and 

ters the church without arising, making his own u confession" 
to the whole church. Much cf this is done by "evangelists" who 
love to count heads and report what great things they have done. 
In this way, some of our churches are flooded with deceived 
souls and with corruption Campbellism is not sanctified by 
being adopted into Baptist practice. "Believe, believe!" when 
not penitent as was the jailer, ignores repentance ; is, thus, Camp- 
bellism without the water. Preach repentance — repentance which 
makes honest, truthful, pure, God and man loving men and wo- 
men, and church members whose hands and pocket-books are 
open to all New Testament calls. Only such repentance quali- 
fies the soul to look up to Christ, lovingly cling to Him as its 
Savior— to believe. Only these are genuine repentance and faith. 
No man or woman can be saved without them, and without them in 
their order. 

God requires our churches to let no minister take the govern- 
ment out of their hands by thus rushing members into their fel- 
lowship. Stop him, in a prudent way, even in the meeting No 
minister should dare assume such responsibility. 



BY ITS OWN FRUITS. 



597 



pray for them, that they may lay hold on Christ by 
faith and may understand that it is all of grace that 
they are saved by his blood, urging them at the same 
time to prayerfully humble themselves under the 
mighty hand of God.' " 

But few are the members among Campbellites who 
are so near being a Baptist as this : In fact, I never 
saw this done among Campbellites. 

A few weeks later the Journal and Messenger said: 
"It may surprise some of our readers (though it may 
not surprise others) that Mr. Munnell is called in 
question for his view that the candidate for baptism 
ought to pray, and is asked to cite a passage of Script- 
ure upon which he bases his theory. In his reply, 
Mr. Munnell cites the case of Cornelius and the fulfill- 
ment of the prophecy on the day of Pentecost, and in 
vindication of his view that only a praying penitent, 
such as Paul, should be baptized, he reveals a condi- 
tion of things, to our view the natural result of the 
theory held by the followers of Alexander Campbell. 
He says : 

'It is dangerous to discourage the prayers of the 
penitent, for the terrible tendency now-a-days is to 
join the Church rather than to be joined to the Lord ; 
to make shallow professions without any breaking 
of the fallow ground of the heart ; and having never 
learned to pray before baptism , to neglect it afterwards 
all through a fruitless and joyless life in the Church. 
1 find many members of the Church that confess that 
they have never prayed in their lives, and I am satisfied 
it conies from never having been taught aright either 
before or after baptism as to that privilege. Our revi- 
valists often baptize scores, and never say but little 
about prayer in any way, and then we wonder why 



598 



CAMPBELLISM CONDEMNED 



our members are so lukewarm and careless about the 
Church. Poor souls, they are destined to live a cheer- 
less, Christless life, with but little comfort and no con- 
secration to the work of the Lord.'" (My italics.) 
Had Bro. Munnell — for I can Brother any man who 
writes as above ; for it shows him a Christian, though 
in Babylon — added: "and finally be lost," he would 
have told the whole truth, concerning most members 
of the Campbellite Church. 

Eld. Pickens, a Campbellite preacher, of note, ap- 
peared in the "Christian Preacher " and re-appeared 
in the Apostolic Times, thus: "A young preacher, 
whose name was familiar to only a few congregations, 
was invited to visit a small congregation. Being some- 
what gifted in exhortation, he induced several to join 
the Church. This so gratified the brethren that they 
were induced to continue the meeting several weeks, 
and at the conclusion, nearly a hundred accessions were 
counted. The good news of the * glorious meeting' 
was heralded all over the land by our papers. The 
young preacher received a shower of encomiums and 
made for himself almost a national reputation as a 
great preacher. What has become of the Church? 
Why , you can now count all its faithful members on your 
fingers and leave out your thumbs. The faithful are 
as few now as before the revival, and indeed fewer ; 
and the church in a far worse condition. Many of the 
converts ( ?) have rarely, if ever, darkened the door 
since their baptism. This is no isolated case. It is 
the vjorh of a general rule that has few if any excep- 
tions. Will brethren weigh the following words? Our 
safest, ablest, most conservative preachers are being 
rapidly driven from the field. It is not merely a 
question of financial support. Not by any means. It 



BY ITS OWN FRUITS. 



599 



is the rage for proselytes and itching ears." — (My 
italics.) — In the Am, Baptist Flag. 

This reminds of our Savior's language: 6 'Ye com- 
pass sea and land to make one proselyte ; and when he 
is become so, ye make him two-fold more a son of 
hell than yourselves."— Matt. 23 :15. 

Of course, abuses exist everywhere. But this, as 
Bro. Munnell, in next to the last quotation, rightly 
shows, is the natural result of Campbellism ; and, as 
Mr. Pickens says, "is no isolated case ," but is the work 
of "a general rule that has few exceptions'" among the 
Campbellites. With Baptists, it is the exception and is 
contrary to their doctrine and practice. May our 
churches so " watch" that it may ever be against their 
doctrine and practice. See Rev, 2 :20; 3 :8-12. 

2. According to facts and acknowledgments of 
Campbellites, themselves, Campbellism is a failure. 

The testimony on the last point is the acknowledg- 
ment of members of the Campbellite Church, that 
Campbellism is worse than a failure. 

On the eldership, the "Christian" Preacher says : 
' ' We consider that our mistake has been right here, as 
it is evidently the rock on which our bark is now about 
to be dashed to pieces." — American Baptist Flag. 
(My italics.) 

In Apostolic Guide, Jacob Creath acknowledges : 
''Popedom is our pastorate. . . . We have nearly all 
the same things that Papists and sectarians have." — 
Baptist Banner. 

The " Christian Preacher" of Apr. 21, 1881, ac- 
knowledges : "The facts are against our theories, which 
is proof that our theories on this question — of the elder- 
ship — are utterly worthless," — American Baptist 
Flag. 



600 



CAMPBELL1SM CONDEMNED 



The American Christian Review sets up the ac- 
knowledgment and wail: 6 ' When Alexander Camp- 
bell, with his illustrious coadjutors, abandoned the 
sectarian world forever, over sixty years ago, and es- 
caped the mystic realms of Babylon, they inaugurated 
a work which meant the complete restoration of the 
'ancient order of things.' . . . This proposed religious 
revolution started off with wonderful momentum. . . . 
But, alas ! Since the inauguration of that auspicious 
period, there have been many betrayals of Jesus Christ 
and many forfeitures of sacred pledges. From among 
ourselves there have arisen up many men, speaking 
perverse things, and drawing many disciples after 
them, subverting the faith of the weak minded, essay- 
ing to make improvements on the Constitution of the 
Church, and deluding themselves and their hearers 
with the idea that gain is Godliness," etc., etc. 

The "Christian:" 6 6 This reformation started out 
with a purpose so glorious that it was well worthy of 
the ambition of Alexander the Great. It aspired to 
the conquest of the world. It would unite all Chris- 
tians and then the world would be converted. For 
a while our success more than equaled our most san- 
guine expectations. Then there came a change; our 
chariot wheels dragged heavily, and though we still 
make progress it does not meet the promise of our first 
success." — American Baptist Flag. 

The "Christian" Standard shows that Baptist stu- 
dents for the ministry, number 899 and the Campbellite 
but 115; whereupon it wailingly remarks : "The gain 
from this source does not more than counterbalance 
the loss by death/' Upon which the American Bap- 
tist Flag well says : "It is evident that Campbellism 
has seen its best days and is in the decline of life. Let 



BY ITS OWN FRUITS. 



601 



it die. The sooner the better for the cause of Christ." 

The American Christian Review again says : "The 
introduction of the organ has not only ruined many 
churches, but at this very time is preparing the way 
for an organic separation — a separation into two dis- 
tinct bodies." 

The Independent says : "Considerable discussion . . 
respecting the division of the denomination." Thus, 
Campbellism will result in the additional two sects to 
sectarian confusion. 

The Evangelist, says the Christian Index, "quot- 
ed Rev. B. B. Tyler as saying that after sixty years 
of effort the Campbellites have failed in all the large 
cities;" upon which the Index well remarks : "That is 
where Apostolic Christianity won its chief triumphs : 
can the Christianity of the Campbellites be apostolic 
and reach such different results?" 

Says the American Baptist Flag : "We learn that 
fifty years ago there was one Baptist Church in New 
York city, small in membership. At the same time 
there was one Campbellite Church in the same city. 
That is true. The Campbellite Church still exists in a 
weak condition, but the one Baptist Church has grown 
to fifty Baptist Churches. This is the way the Camp- 
bellites are about to take the world." So generally. 

The " Christian" bewails the condition of Camp- 
bellism : "Many Christians are asleep. The apathy 
seems general. There is a wide-spread indifference. 
Christ is not kept in the temple. Has the world for- 
gotten there is a hell? Do Christians believe there is a 
heaven? Many have no love for the prayer meeting. 
Many neglect the Lord's Day meetings. Some still 
fight the mission work. Some bite and devour their 
brethren. Cold, cold, cold are many Christians! 



602 CAMPBELLISM CONDEMNED BY ITS OWN FRUITS. 

Many preachers have gone to 6 tent making.' The 
Lord's treasure everywhere is empty. God robbed in 
scores of churches. Has the devil been unchained? 
Is vital piety clean gone from the church? The 
churches cannot always mock God; He is not deaf! 
The drunkard and swearer at the Lord's table! 
What a picture for angels to look on. The extortion- 
er, the oppressor, and the worldling on the church 
book ? Will the Lord forbear forever ? Does not His 
anger burn to-day? The Church is sleeping on a vol- 
cano ; how long the hidden fires of God's wrath will be 
restrained we know not," etc., etc. — Journal and Mes- 
senger. 

Bewails the Old-Path Guide: ' 'A strong and in- 
fluential brother writes: 4 In view of all that has been 
said, is there any righteous reason for our existence as 
a people? If Garrison, Errett, Moore, are right, why 
continue the struggle? I confess myself disheart- 
ened and disappointed.' Thousands of the best of 
brethren are feeling just as this brother feels. The 
fact forces itself upon every right-thinking mind that 
if these brethren are right in their position which the 
combined godless war on the editor of the Guide 
has brought out, the Reformation is a miserable fail- 
ure. There is not a reason under heaven why we should 
longer exist, or why we should ever have existed. If 
this is the result of a seventy years' struggle for a 
restoration the whole thing is a farce and a fizzle. 
Brethren, we have either to buckle on anew our ar- 
mor and dispute every inch of such ground, or just 
make up our minds to an inglorious surrender. Let 
others do as they may ; let craven cowardice seal the 
lips and stay the pens of professed friends of the Mas- 
ter ; as for us, we shall 'die in the lastditch,' with our 



A. CAMPBELL SICK OF CAMPBELLISM . 



603 



<f ace to the foe.' Our faith is that the Lord will 
bring us out of all this."— American Baptist Flag, 

Thus, we see the folly of poor, sinful man, claiming 
that the Church is an apostasy, and claiming to get up 
a new church. Reason, if nothing else, should teach 
these Campbellites that if Jesus Christ could not or- 
ganize a church which could stand against the influence 
of error — 4 'the gates of hell" — surely A. Campbell 
could not. Thus, we see the failure and the folly of 
Campbellism. 

By its fruits, as shown by facts and by wails of its 
own friends, Campbellism is anti-Scriptural. 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 

A. CAMPBELL, BEFORE HIS DEATH, TO A GREAT EXTENT, 
SICK OF CAMPBELLISM. 

Only a few years after Mr. Campbell originated his, 
so-called, "reformation" he wailingly said: "Every 
sort of doctrine has been proclaimed, by almost all 
sorts of preachers, under the broad banners and with 
the supposed sanction of the begun Reformation." — 
Mill. Harb., Vol. 6, No. 2, p. 64; Ray's Text Book 
on Campbellism j p. 333. 

But, a few years before his death, Mr. Campbell ex- 
pressed greater dissatisfaction with Campbellism. Prof. 
E. Adkins, D. D., formerly a prof essor in Shurtleff 
College; then a professor, pro tern., in Iowa State 
University ; an author of several books ; a writer of 
wide reputation; and, one of the Bible Revisers, — in 



604 A. CAMPBELL SICK OF CAMPBELLISM. 

the service of the Am. Bib. Union, — a few years ago 
told me that he talked over the subject with Mr. 
Campbell, while they worked together in the Bible 
Rooms ; and that Mr. Campbell then expressed a 
change of views. In 1883, 1 wrote to Prof. Adkins 
and requested him that, as he is now waiting for the 
boatman to "row him over the river," to give me, in 
writing, his statement as to Mr. Campbell's change of 
views. In answer, I received the following letter : 

"In regard to the conversation I had with Alexander 
Campbell in the Bible rooms, my memory does not 
serve me to give a definite verbatim statement. In 
substance, hoivever, he said that he had changed his 
views on the subject of the personality and work of 
the Holy Spirit. We talked sometime on the subject, 
and the views he expressed, seemed to be orthodox; 
such as any sound and true Baptist would accept. The 
doctrines which he held and taught in earlier life on 
this subject, and which are still held and taught by his 
followers, and are characteristics of Campbellism, as it 
now prevails, he held no longer, if I rightly understood 
him; and our conversation took up most points of the 
so-called 'current reformation.' " (My italics.) 

The reader will notice; first, that Prof. Adkins' ve- 
racity is above question ; second, that his scholarship 
and acute mind would not be likely to misunderstand, 
where there was ample opportunity for understanding ; 
third, that, working in the same rooms with Mr. 
Campbell, and talking "some time" on the subject, 
gave him ample opportunity to understand Mr. Camp- 
bell; fourth, that Prof. Adkins expresses himself with 
great care and conscientiousness ; fifth, that while de- 
clining to attempt a verbal report, he is very positive 
as to the "substance" of the conversation which took 



A. CAMPBELL SICK OF CAMPBELLISM. 605 



place between him and Mr. Campbell ; sixth, that the 
conversation not only covered the personality and the 
work of the Spirit, but 6 'that it covered most points" 
of Campbellism; seventh, that, as uttered by Prof. 
Adkins while waiting to cross "death's cold flood," it 
is equivalent to a dying declaration. 

Moreover, such were Mr. Campbell's and Prof. Ad- 
kins' relations and intimacy, as co-workers in Bible 
translation, that, to no one would Mr, Campbell more 
likely reveal his change of views, than to Prof. Ad- 
kins. Had Mr. Campbell's life been spared a few 
years longer, his views would, probably, have suffi- 
ciently ripened to have burst forth in an open retrac- 
tion of Campbellism. As it is, he sleeps too soon ; 
but, let us hope that, through the mercy of a forgiv- 
ing Savior, which covers our weakness, that he sleeps 
in peace. 

Could his "clayey lips" break their silence, no 
doubt that they would implore his followers to cast 
away their notions and seek the Bible as the only guide 
to their faith and practice. 

"Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One 
of Israel: I am the Lord thy God, which teacheth 
thee to profit, ivhich leadeth thee by the way thou 
shouldst go. Oh, that thou hadst hearkened to my 
commandments! then had thy peace been as a riv- 
er, AND THY RIGHTEOUSNESS AS THE WAVES OF THE 

sea.— Isa. 48: 17, 18. 

THE END. 



I OLD TESTAMENT ETHICS VINDICATED jj 

IS THE ONLY BOOK ESPECIALLY AND EXCLUSIVELY VIN- |L 
DICATING OLD TESTAMENT ETHICS. ^ 



o 



"Das bach sheint mir gate apolo- s 
getishe clienste zu than."— PROF. J. A. § 



DORNER, D. D., Author of the "Person of * 
Christ," etc., and Professor of Theology in Berlin Uni- 
versity, Germany — in a letter to the Author. 



O 



IS IT BEST TO THROW ASIDE A CIRCULAR ON THE LONG NEEDED 
BOOK, WHICH DELIGHTS SCHOLARS OF DIFFERENT CREEDS, 
SUCH AS BISHOPS BOWMAN, HURST, WILEY, WILSON, 
PARKER, PIERCE, PROFESSORS GEO. P. FISHER, 
JOHN A. BROADUS, H. G. WESTON, AND 

3- 

LEADING PAPERS AND QUAR- H 

P- 

TERLY REVIEWS? g 



td 



trt 

K" 

o 

Please, at least, glance over the testimony of 



Eighty-four representative witnesses, of different 
Denominations, in the following pages. 



P 



I OLO TESTAMENT ETHICS VINDICATED i 



IS THE ONLY BOOK ESPECIALLY AND EXCLUSIVELY VIN- & 



DICATING OLD TESTAMENT ETHICS. 



1- 



"Das bticli sheint mir gute apolo- | 

§ getishe dienste zu thtin."—I > MOF. J. A. 8 

P DORNER, D. D., Author of the "Person of g 
£ Christ," etc., and Professor of Theology in Berlin Uni- 

«h versity, Germany — in a letter to the Author. ^ 

g* 

1 I 

^ IS IT BEST TO THROW ASIDE A CIRCULAR ON THE LONG NEEDED P 

cs ° 

BOOK, WHICH DELIGHTS SCHOLARS OF DIFFERENT CREEDS, 



SUCH AS BISHOPS BOWMAN, HURST, WILEY, WILSON, 
PARKER, PIERCE, PROFESSORS GEO. P. FISHER, 



tti 

I 



jT JOHN A. BROADUS, H. G. WESTON, AND 
® LEADING PAPERS AND QUAE- 

[J TERLY REVIEWS? 





£ 

Z o 

1 Please, at least \ glance over the testimony of ^ 

m Eighty -f OUT representative witnesses, of different | 
Denominations, in the following pages. p 



l\Xoiiey fox* a Good Book is Capi- 



Old Testament EttiiGs Vindicated, 

BY REV. W. A. JARREL, 

Is a volume of 287 pages. It has a full, convenient table of con- 
tents and index. It is well printed and well bound in cloth. 

Your attention is asked to the following points : — 

1. The book exhibits the relation of the morality of the Old Tes- 
tament to that of the New. 

2. The book proves the morality of the Old Testament as pure as 
that of the New. 

3. The book compares the morality of the Old Testament with 
that of its Apocryphal books. 

4. The book compares the morality of the Old Testament with the 
morality of the writings of Confucius, of Buddhism, of Greek, Ro- 
man, and the representative heathen religions and philosophies of all 
ages. 

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representative infidel writers of all schools and of all ages. 

6. The book takes up the objections of infidels to the morality of 
the Old Testament, such as, "David, the man after God's own heart," 
yet a bad man; polygamy; "taking women to themselves" in Jew- 
ish wars; slavery; women and children and family life in the Old 
Testament; the imprecatory Psalms; stoning to death disobedient 
children, etc., etc., and fairly, carefully answers them one by one, 
and proves that the laws of the Old Testament, relative to all these 
things to which objections are made, witness to its purity and divine 
origin. 

7. The booh evades no difficulty. 

8. The book corrects many of the translations of the Old Testa- 
ment — according to the latest scholarship — which have afforde d in- 
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tal invested in [Brains and Heart, 



10. The book is a great help to the study of Moral Science. 

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Rev. T. H. Pritchard, D. D. 

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In this country and in Europe the book has received but three or 
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Good Books Create a Taste which is 

4 



BAPTIST TESTIMONY. 

Prof. JOSEPH ANGUS, I>. I>., President Regents' Park College, London, (Eng.), 
and*a Bible translator, writes : — 
"I have examined it with pleasure. I think it well suited to meet the spirit of the times. 
We have two or three smaller books— recently published on this side — but the subject well 
deserves a systematic discussion, such as you give." 

Rev, AIjEX. McLAREN, I>. !>., of Manchester, Eng., the prince of the Baptist 
pulpit, writes : — 

"A work of greit diligence and accuracy which puts its arguments strongly and popularly, 
and will be valuable in meeting objections brought against the Old Testament on the ground 
of its morality, and in impressing its readers with the lofty tone of the moral teaching of the 
earlier revelation." 

Rev. C. H. SPUROEOX, London, Eng.:— 

"It will be favorably mentioned in The Sword and Trowel." 
Rev. A, HOVE Y, D. !>., President Newton Theological Seminary, Massachusetts :— 

It is vigorously and earnestly written; it is bold and manly in defense of precious truth; 
vindicates faithfully the ethics of the Old Testament. I should think it would invigorate the 
faith of doubtina - souls and lead some who have taken up superficial objections to the morality 
taught in the Old Testament, to reconsider them and rejoice in the truth." 

Rev. H. <3r. WESTON, D. I>., President Crozer Theological Se nin^ry, Pennsylvania:— 
"En 'Old Testament Ethics Vindicated,' Mr. Jarrel has treated a very important subject in 
a very interesting way. His positions are well taken, his interpretations of the great prin- 
ciples of the divine administration are sound, and he has supported them by a copious refer- 
ence to acknowledged authorities. The wide circulation of the book will be of great service." 

Rev. J. P. BOYCE, D. J>„ LIj.D., President of Southern Baptist Theological Sem- 
inary, Kentucky:— 

" I am struck with the vigor of your discussion and the value of the matter. I shall take 
pleasure in commending your book to my students." 

Rev. A. H. STRONCr, I>. I>„ President of Rochester Theological Seminary, New 
York:— 

*■ It shows extensive reading, and the positions taken seem generally true. I hope it will 
have enough of a circulation to compensate for the labor you have expended upon it." 

Rev. W. R. ROTHWELL, I>. O., President of William Jewell College and Theo- 
logical Seminary, Mo. : — 
" It meets a special want at this time, and will be very helpful to many." 

Rev. HOWARD OSGOOD, I>. D., JLL.D., Prof. O. T. Interpretation in Roch- 
ester Theological Seminary, and a Bible translator:— 
"I can say with great pleasure, I am very glad to see that you have turned your atten- 
tion to the defense of the Old Testament, and I hope your efforts will be greatlj blessed of 
God." 

Rev. JOHN A. BROADUS, I>. JD., LiIi.D., Professor in Southern Baptist 
Theological Seminary: — 

"Old Testament ethics is, in my judgment, a valuable book On the whole I 

think it well suited to do good. You have drawn on a very wide range of authorities, stating 
their views with admirable condensation and discussing the questions involved with terseness 
and vigor." 

Prof. W. R. HARPER, PH. D., Prof. Hebrew and O. T. Interpretation in Baptist 
Theological Seminary, Morgan Park, (Chicago) : — 
" You have certainly done well under the circumstances, for there is no more difficult 
subject." " I am glad that Old Testament Ethics has succeeded so well. I trust that it may 
be a financial success also." 

Prof. REUBEN A. OUIJLH, IjYj.D.. Brown University, R. I. :— v 
" I am glad you have published such a work." 



a Safeguard against Trashy Reading. 



5 



Rev. GEORGE DANA BOABDMAN, I>. !>., Philadelphia:— 

" It is a striking book. It discusses a momentous matter with vigor of thought, clearness 
of expression, amplitude of citations." 

Rev. WII^IAM CATHCABT, I>. Philadelphia :- 

"It shows extensive research, great ability and profound reverence for the divine word ; 
it is a defense of Old Testament morals which can never be successfully assailed. The 
thoughtful young Christian, the Sunday School teacher and the minister of Jesus needs such a 
work and will be deeply grateful to the author for it." "I am glad it has been such a suc- 
cess." 

Rev. GEOBGE €. I<ORIMER, I>. I>„ Chicago:— 

" Believe me, I appreciate its contents. You have do%B a good work, and one that 
deserves the applause of Christians everywhere. The subject treated is a difficult one, but 
you have handled it with care, ability,. and discrimination." 

Rev. S. H. FORD, I>. I>., LJL.D., Editor Christian Repository, St Louis:— 
" I have noticed with hearty commendation your work on Old Testament Ethics." 

Rev. THOS. ARMITAGE, D. I>., New York :- 

4 4 Its perusal must be of great profit to those who are not familiar with the subtilties of 

the present controversy between Christianity and skepticism. It bears marks of a large 

research, and of a forceful mind in the use of material collected." 

Rev. T. H. PBITCHABD, I>. I>., formerly President Wake Forest College, pastor 

Broadway Baptist Church, Louisville : — 
"I have read it with much profit. The work gives evidence of considerable learning, is 
written with clearness and vigor and is remarkably suggestive. Single chapters in the book 
will give a pastor the germ thought of half a dozen sermons. This feature of the book makes 
it of special value to all who wish to teach the truths of religion." 

Rev. R. €. BURIiESOX, I>. I>., President Waco University, Prof. W. J. 
Brown, Rev. B. II. CARItOLC I>. I>„ Waco, Tex. :— 
" We have examined with great interest large portions of your book .... 
and feel that such an examination fully justifies us in saying : 1st. The topic is well chosen 
and timely. 2d. The treatment of it is able, instructive and entertaining. 3rd. The treatise, 
as a whole, will be a valuable addition to our apologetic Literature." 

Rev. J. B. THOMAS, I>. Brooklyn, N. Y. :- 

" I am slow to commend a book because I will not indorse what I have not read. I have, 
at length, been able to look through your Old Testament Ethics and take great pleasure in 
expressing my high appreciation of the laborious and judicious treatment you have given the 
subject. It is a problem of immense and immediate importance and men ought to welcome 
every help to its solution. I think the book eminently fitted to do good, especially as 
presenting a candid and irresistible refutation of reckless statements." 

Rev. FEAXK A1>KIXS, Elyria, O.:— 

"Iam glad you l*ave published a work which shows such evident care and ability in its 
preparation upen a subject so timely." 

Rev. F. BAINBRIDGE, I>. I>., author of several popular books on missions, 
Warwick, R. I. :— 

11 1 congratulate you on the authorship of Old Testament Ethics It will do 

good long after you are at rest." 

Rev. C. A. HOBBS, author of the grand poem on siege of Vicksburg, Batavia, 111., now 
of Delavan, Wis.: — 

" It is such a book as the pastor can use, with the large majority of instances he meets, 
better than any other." 

Rev. G. S. BAIJLY, I>. !>., an eminent author, Ottumwa, Iowa: — 

"It presents a vast amount of information. It very clearly and happily sweeps away 
m ^st if not all the infidel objections which have been brought against the moral teachings of 
the Old Testament, and removes many difficulties which have sometimes embarrassed 
believers. I can cordially commend it as a valuable help to pastors, Sunday-school teachers 
and the public in general." 



JHLe who is Ulclx in Brain and 



6 



Rev, JOSEPH MOUNTAIN, Msrris, 111.:— 

"From a pastor's stand-point it seems to me to be a very valuable book to put into the 
hand of pastors, Sunday-school teachers and our members." 

Kev. J. M. COON, writer of the Sunday-school lessons in The Standard, Whitewater, 

Wis.:— 

" Into this contested field the author of this work has ridden, balancing a well poised 

lance, with which, again and again, he has transfixed the opponents of Christianity 

These answers are brief and yet with sufficient fullness and point. The work is of special 
value to those who, by position or surroundings, are compelled to meet these carping and 
cynical critics of the divine work." 

Rev. Gr. W. ANDERSON, I>. !>., book editor of the American Baptist Publication 

Society, Philadelphia#- 
M I am glad that some one has been led to write a book on the subject. I can rejoice in 
the perfection of the work and try to aid in securing it.'' 

CRITICAL BOOK COMMITTEE OF AMERICAN BAPTIST PUB- 
LICATION SOCIETY:— 

"In very many respects it would make a valuable publication." 
Rev. A. A. KENDRICK, I>. D., President of Shurtleff College, Illinois :— 

" You evidently have studied the subject." 
THE AMERICAN BAPTIST FLAG, St. Louis :- 

" It is well worth the money, and Bible students should possess the work." 

THE STANDARD, Chicago:— 

" We regard this as a very hopeful work The large research and the assidu- 
ous study indicated commend the book to the unprejudiced reader. It makes, however, no 
partial examination of its subject, treating it, as the author does, on broad, general grounds 
and by way of special and individual vindication as well." 

THE NATIONAL BAPTIST, Philadelphia :- 

"This volume evinces great care and painstaking on the part of the author. An impor- 
tant defence of Old Testament morality. The book is packed with information as well as 
argument, and will bring light and relief to many a person troubled with theological difficul- 
ties suggested by the Old Testament." 

THE JOURNAL AND MESSENGER, Cincinnati:— 

" The author has exhibited great industry in the collection of his materials, has brought 
together a mass of testimony from many sources, and has also exhibited ingenuity and skill 
in the arrangement of his matter, as well as frankness and honesty in giving the authors of 
his quotations We commend it." 

THE WATCHMAN, Boston :— 

" It fairly exhibits the objections offered and presents the considerations needful to their 
vindication at the bar of candid judgment and an enlightened conscience. The book shows 
extensive reading, careful and discriminating thought and force of argument," 

THE CANADIAN BAPTIST, Toronto :- 

" The author's point of view is thoroughly orthodox and he has collected much valuable 
material from a variety of sources in defense of the purity of the Old Testament. We know of 
no book in which so many appropriate citations can be found on the subjects here treated." 

THE TEXAS BAPTIST, Dallas, Texas :- 

" Bro Jarrel wields a pen like a Scotch McGregor wields a claymore, and to those who 
know him it is not too much to say that in force of intellect and breadth of earning he has 
not a superior in the State. His work on the ethics of the Old Testament attests the correct- 
ness and impartiality of this remark." 
THE BAPTIST TEACHER, Philadelphia:— 

"The subject is one of profound interest. With the difficult questions involved our 
author deals with marked ability, evincing a wide range of reading and great clearness and 
force of argument in vindicating the ways of God to man." 

THE BAPTIST QUARTERLY REVIEW, Cincinnati:— 
" Full of fresh vigorous thought." 



Heart is tlie only truly rich . man. 

7 



METHODIST TESTIMONY. 

BISHOP THOS. BOWMAN, I>. IX.I>., St. Louis, many years President 
Asbury University : — 

"I have now examine:! your work quite carefully, and am much pleased with it. It is 
full of good thoughts on an interesting and important subject. I shall take pleasure in com- 
mending^ it to the attention of Biblical students and readers." 

BISHOP A. W. WIL.SON, I>. I>., Baltimore :— 

" You have in a very satisfactory way fulfilled your intention. It brings within brief 
compass such a mass of facts and arguments ordinarity to be had only upon extensive 
research and suggests and points the way to so many lines of inquiry that it can hardly fail 
to stimulate as well as instruct. It ought to set very many— especially of our preachers— 
upon exploring this broad field of Biblical investigation. I expect to use the material of the 
book, which is about the best proof I can give of my estimate of its value." 

BISHOP J. W.WILEY, I>. !>., Cincinnati:— 

"I have read most of it with great interest and approbation, and, taken as a whole, I 
judge it to be a very valuable contribution to the department of which it treats, and a timely 
antidote to the many mischievous notions that prevail in the present day. You have, evi- 
dently, given a great amount of study to the subjects that have come before you, and have 
done a good work. I sincerely hope the book may have a wide circulation, which it unques- 
tionably merits." 

BISHOP JOHN P. HURST, D. !>., Iowa:— 

" Am very much pleased with its design and scope Permit me to express the 

hope that you may continue to use your pen in the cause of truth." 

BISHOP O. F. PIERCE, I>. O., Georgia :- 

"I am glad to say you have made a valuable contribution to the world of Christian 
thought." 

BISHOP MNUS PARKER, I>. I>., New Orleans, formerly editor New Orleans 
Christian Advocate : — 
"I have . . . been most favorably impressed with the treatment of the subject, and 
can commend the book as timely, instructive, and especially rich in authorities and in the 
literature of the topics discussed. It is especially adapted to meet the present aspects of 
skepticism and immorality, and to strength the faith and convictions of Christian people." 

Rev. JAMES STRONG, S,JT. Professor Old Testament Exegesis in Drew Theo- 
logical Seminary, New Jersey : — 
"Your book , . . shows considerable research and is calculated to do good, especially 
to those who have not access to more extensive treatises, and even to such it may be useful 
in bringing together points not elsewhere collected. The plan on the whole is good, and its 
directness and brevity will commend it to the general reader .... I doubt not your 
little volume will find its welcome place in the book list." 

Rev. MTTHER T. TOWXSEND, I>„ Professor in Boston University School 
Theology and Dean Chataqua School Theology : — 

"I have given years of study to various phases of Bible faith, but I confess lam sur- 
prised that you have been able to find so much excellent material in support of its ethics. 
Your argument is a strong and convincing one." 

THE Q UARTERL V REVIEW, of the Methodist Episcopal Church South :— 

"It meets a want of the times. It is not a superficial discussion, but an elaborate defense 
of the moral code of Moses and the prophets. Learning and ability are displayed in meeting 

the strong objections arrayed against the Bible on the score of its defective morality 

Mr. Jarrel enters largely into a vindication of the ethics of the ancient Scriptures against the 
accusations and aspersions of infidel writers, meeting fairlv and candidly every issue 
presented. As this is a field but little traversed, this book will supply well-arranged argu- 
ments for use by preachers ; besides, it can be profitably read by many of the laity o. the 
church, who may be perplexed about matters discussed in these pages, and also in non- 
Christian literature. Mr. Jarrel compares the morality taught in the Old Testament with 
heathen standards. He discourses of sacred books among different nations, in order to show 
the superiority of the Old Testament Scriptures. In every view the book is meritorious and 
deserves a wide circulation. We are much gratified to find such literary ability in our section. " 



BRAIN ANT) HEART CAPITAL 



8 



REV. B. F. CBARY, D. D., Editor California Christian Advocate, San Francisco :— 

" I think very favorablj r of your book. It is well calculated to do good." 
SUNDAY SCHOOL JOURXAL, Dr. J. H. Vincent, Editor, New York:— 

"The author succeeds in what he attempts At the same time the work can 

give but-a clearer and more appreciative view of the New Testament." 

WESTERN CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE, Cincinnati :- 

"The book indicates large research and careful study, and treats the subject on broad,., 
impartial grounds, while it also makes careful vindication of the subject against particular 
forms of error. It is a timely and helpful book and worthy of extended circulation." 

CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE, Nashville :- 

"It is refreshing to read an author who exhibits such strong faith and who gives such 
good reasons for the faith that is in him. Mr. Jarrel has learning, logic, and a pointed way 
of putting the answers to infidel objectors to the ethics of the Old Testament. The book is 
timely." 

CENTRA!. CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE, St. Louis :- 

"He covers the entire field mapped out in a brief, yet comprehensible and forcible ex- 
position, which commands attention. . , . It is a great improvement on some recent 

works." 



" It indicates patient and extensive research with careful study, and treats the subject on 
broad, comprehensive and impartial grounds. We are inclined to think it will meet a long 
felt want and will be very popular. Address the author and procure a work which may be a 
source of much satisfaction and no little profit to every attentive reader." 

Calling special attention to the book, in another issue, the same paper says : " A work 
that does much credit to the author's head and heart; and a work which his brethren and all 
others would do well to read and circulate. . . . Tt cost a vast deal of labor and diligent 
research and he richly deserves the commendation and support of the public." 

THE NORTHERN CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE, Syracuse, New York:— 

"The discussion is so conducted as to form an able defense of the standard of right 
presented in the teachings of the Old Testament Scriptures. The book shows a very extensive 
reading and presents a very useful collation of the literature of the subject. The comparisons 
made between the essence of the Bible and that of the several books of heathen religions, and 
with the moral teachings of eminent infidel writers, is a very valuable feature of the work. 
We commend the book as instructive to all, and as especially useful to ministers and teachers 
and students." 



Rev. HOWARD CROSBY, D. D., £>£>.D # , New York, Ex-Chancellor University 

of New York, a Bible translator, etc. : — 
" Your Old Testament Ethics is a very thorough defense of God's truth, which has been 
maligned by ignorance and carnal hatred." 

THE INTERIOR, Chicago :— 

'* He appears to have succeeded in doing his work well and to have given us a timely and 
useful volume." 

HEfctA.LD AND PRESBYTER, Cincinnati :- 

"The present work .... we think, will be found in every way reliable, sound and 
safe, and will fill the place in this controversy indicated by the late Dr. H. B. Smith, of 
Union Theological Seminary, when he predicted that the nVht will be between a stiff, thor- 
oughgoing orthodoxy and a stiff, thoroughgoing infidelity. We regard this as a book for the 
times, and eminently worthy of public patronage." 

THE CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTOR, Philadelphia :- 

"The book not only explains these difficulties, but so vindicates the laws relating to the 
things objected to that they are made proof of the divine origin of the Bible. . . . The 
Old Testament is proved by the work as pure as the New." 



ST. LOUIS CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE:- 



PRESBYTERIAN 




IS SECURE AGAINST any LOSS. 

9 



THE PRESBYTERIAN, Philadelphia :— 

"The book shows extended and careful research, and establishes its positions with vigor 
and force The volume can be entirely commended, and it ought to be read.'-* 

THE CAXADA PRESBYTERIAN, Toronto:— 

"This is a very valuable contribution to apologetic literature. The author has devoted 

much time and patient research to the study of the important subject He is 

intimately conversant with the latest phases of scientific, ethical and theological discussion, 

so that there is much freshness in the mode of exposition as in the subject itself 

This vindication of Old Testament Ethics deserves a wide circulation." 



CONGREGATIONAL TESTIMONY. 



Prof, GEORGE P. FISHER, I>. JLX.D., Yale College :— 

"The Rev. W. A. Jarrel's work on Old Testament Ethics deserves commendation for its 
ability and earnestness. It is adapted to do good. I trust that it will have a wide circu- 
lation." 

Rev. MARK HOPKINS, I>. I>„ LtJj. I>., the venerable President of Williams 
College, to whom President Garfield attributed much of his success:— 
"An earnest, original work, of much research and well worthy of the attention of any 
one who is interested in that subject." 

Rev. JOHX W. HAIiEY, D. I>„ Lowell, Mass , author of "Alleged Discrepancies of 
the Bible," and of the " Hereafter of Sin " :— 
* Excellent monograph on the Ethics of the Old Testament. . . Your next edition 
ought to be called for very soon." 

THE BIBIilOTHEC A SACRA, the ablest Theological Quarterly of America :— 
''This volume shows careful and thorough study and judicious reading. .... Its 
style is vigorous and impassioned. It presents views which are well considered and weighty, 
resorting now and then, perhaps, to a strained interpretation of a passage to avoid a difficulty. 
It would be difficult to find in so compact a form such a body of sensible and wholesome fact 
and argument pertaining to the ethical character of the Old Testament Scriptures." 

THE INDEPENDENT, New York:— 

" Old Testament Ethics is an out-and-out defense of Biblical institutions by a man who 
has the full courage of his opinions and plenty of ability to back them up with reasons. He 
begins at the beginning and covers the whole' ground. He is not prolix and anything in the 
world but dull. He is a true man, devout and tender, but with strong convictions of the 
kind which make men martyrs. We do not order our battle array exactly as he does, and 
we do not have the highest confidence in some of his artillery; but we believe in the fight he 
has made and bid him Godspeed. " 

THE COUfGREGATIOXALIST, Boston:— 

" Contains a large amount of information not before brought together in a single volume." 

THE CHRISTIAN UNION, New York :- 

"The spirit of the work is commendably fearless and candid. No ethical difficulties in 
the Old Testament are dodged; no points of danger are timidly dealt with; no concessions are 
made to the noisy claims infidelity is now confidently urging. It is a good reply to the 
rhet rical lecturer just now prominent. A wide and well chosen range of quotations from 
authors evangelical and non-evangelical is a valuable feature. The treatment is well organ- 
ized, with analytic judgment of the whole subject, and each topic is presented under a man- 
ageable array of propositions developing the whole argument with commendable brevity. 
Thus the book .... will be found a very usable as well as timely compend. We should 
be glad to see a third edition necessary." 



If the Testimony of Conscientious Scholars is Reliable, 

10 

CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN 
TESTIMONY. 

THE CVMBERLAiVD PRESBYTERIAN QUARTERLY REVIEW, 

Edited by the Faculty of Cumberland University : — 
"It indicates on the part of the author a large amount of study and research, and is 
made up largely of quotations from heathen and infidel authors A valuable con- 
tribution to the theology of the Old Testament. The author has fought a good fight, and we 
hope this book will fall into the hands of, at least, some with respect to whom the ethics of 
the Old Testament need to be vindicated." 

THE TEXAS OBSERVER, Dallas, Texas 

" We consider it a good accession to Biblical literature." 

UNITED BRETHREN. 

RELIGIOUS TELESCOPE, Dayton, O.r— 

' The author shows that he has a vigorous intellect which he has used to the best advan- 
tage. It is a matter of surprise how the author collected so much upon this subject, and how 
he succeeded in compressing it into so small a space. The questions of polygamy, etc., as 
often charged as being supported by the Old Testament, and many other like questions, 
receive treatment, showing vast scholarship. Its careful reading will be a pleasure to any, 

will make the Bible more easily understood We unhesitatingly commend this 

work as worth buying and reading." 

LUTHERAN TESTIMONY. 

Rev. J. A. HORNER, H. J>., Professor of Theology in Berlin University, Germany, 
author of the " Person of Christ," etc., one of the ablest scholars of the world : — 
"Das buch sheint mir gute apologetische dienste zu thun," which translated: The book 
seems to me carefully and precisely made and well adapted to do good apologetic service. 

THE LUTHERAN OHSERVER, Philadelphia, The most widely circulated Lu- 
theran paper in America : — 
" In this volume the author arraigns rationalistic and skeptical writers who have assailed 
the Old Testament and refutes their accusations. He also carries the war into Africa and 
exposes the shameful sentiments and shocking immoralities and crimes of infidels in the 
French Revolution as shown from their own writings." 

" CAMPBELLITE," "CHRISTIAN," 
"DISCIPLES," "REFORMERS." 

PRESIDENT CLARK BKADEX, Late President of Abington College, formerly 
President Southern Illinois College, author of "Problem of Problems," etc., etc.: — 

"I have had to meet the objections you consider in your book, in such discussions and 
in my lectures and in replies to queries in the public press. The result of my examination is 
this : Your statement of the basal ideas of Biblical ethics is as good as any I have seen, as for 
the purpose of your book, the best. The same can be said of your statement of the ethics of 
Paganism, Pagan philosophy and Infidelity, as found in the acts and otherwise of their leading 
men. Your statement of the stock objections of Infidelity— the wars, customs of war, 
recorded in tl e Bible, chattel slavery, slavery and degradation of woman — polygamy, etc., is 
frank and manly. You do not belittle the difficulty. Your reply is the most satisfactory I 
have ever seen.* Your book should have a wide circulation — as wide as Christianity and 
Infi 'elity. It will do good. It is timely — it is needed — and it does its work thoroughly. 

ELD. M. F. SMITH, Savoy, Texas:— 
"It is the book of the age." 



You Certainly Need " Old Testament Ethics Vindicated." 

11 



THE CHRISTIAN QUARTERLY REVIEW :- 

H We have read this book very carefully Its defense" of the morality and eq- 
uity of the Old Testament Code is impregnable. The criticism of Infidels melts away before thii 
presentation of facts as frost before the morning: sun. The 1 mistakes of Moses,' the cruelties 
and immoralities of the Bible, when brought mto comparison with the facts here presented, 
fadeaway 'as the baseless fabric of a vision.' .... It is a book worth having in your 
library." 

THE CHRISTIAN STANDARD, Cincinnati:- 

"The writer has done a good service in behalf of revealed religion, and desewes encour- 
agement in his laudable performance. We recommend all doubting souls especially to send 
for it " 

CHRISTIAN PREACHER, Dallas, Texas:— 

" There is an array of evidence not often found in so small a compass. He draws from every 
source— Scripture, profane history and skeptical utterances. The author overlooks no part 
of his theme. Such vexing questions as the slaughter of the Midianites, the extirpation of 
the Canaanites, Jewi-h slavery and polygamy are solved beyond a doubt. This part of the 
work itself is well worth the price of the book." 



THE EPISCOPAL RECORDER, Philadelphia:— 

" We confess to have been very much surprised by this book and to have been as much 
delighted as surprised. It is the work of no tyro in literature, but evidences wide reading 

and profound thought upon the part of its author A3 will be seen the subject is 

a most timely one and it is treated in this little book in an exhaustive, systematic and most 
satisfactory manner. The work is replete with information, and the extracts from the works 
of skeptical and philosophical writers are numerous. The fallacies upon which their antag- 
onism is founded are exposed, and the unwilling testimony they frequently furnish to the 
divine rig : n of the Old Testament books make Mr. Jarrel's work a most valuable contribution 
to controversal literature. It is a work of argument and not mere assertion. There is 
pressing, present need of just such a book and we trust it may have a wide circulation." 



RABBI H. BERKOWITZ, an author, Vicksburg, Miss., on ordering a copy:— 

" I became acquainted with your valuable book through the copy you sent to Dr. Wise. 
I found it full of excellent materials." 

HEBREW LEADER, New York:— 

11 We cannot help commending the industry exhibited in this book." 

THE AMERICAN ISRAELITE, the ablest, most widely circulated Jewish paper 
in America, edited by the leading Rabbi, Isaac M. Wise, President Hebrew Union 
College, etc., etc., Cincinnati : — 
" It is Well written and well printed. The author treats his subject with marked ability 
and shows a vast erudition in ethical and comparative literature. His conclusions are irresist- 
ible. He proves to the reader the superiority of Old Testament Ethics to all moral codes of 

heathens, philosophers and infidels The book ought to be in every Jew's library, 

and especially of those who seek ethical culture." 



CINCINNATI DAILY GAZETTE:— 

" The author is well up in the literature of the subject, and cites freely from writers of 
every variety of opinion and battles valiantly for the Old Testament, as in every way superior 

to the sacred books of the heathen and t'J the theories of modern unbelievers Mr. 

Jarrtl i an hardly be denominated an apologist, for he carri^ the war into the enemy's camp 
and hews about him without mercy. It is decidedly refreshing in these days of timid com- 
promise to find one who is so firm in his opinions and who gives so much good reason for the 

fact No one can object when Ingersoll and his imitators are flayed alive with 

their own weapons." 



EPISCOPAL 






PRESS. 



t=3 



S A auestion reversed: Can I afford to do without Old Testament Ethics? 3 

g 12 i 

^ Many other testimonies could be given, from such as Rev. A. J. 

£=3 Frost, D. D., Sacramento, Cal., Rev. Wm. Kincaid, San Francisco, Cal., The ^ 

■ — { Sunday-School Times, Philadelphia, The Presbyterian Journal, Philadelphia, ^ 

.5 Central Baptist, St. Louis, TOe Tennessee Baptist, Memphis, The Herald of j/j 

-F=! Truth, Oakland, Cal., The Signs of the Times, Oakland, Cal., The Christian [rj 

Statesman, Philadelphia, the General Association of Texas, representing 60,000 £tf 

Baptists, — which, on motion of B. H. Carroll, D. D., recommended it, by ^ 

special resolution, at Sulphur Springs, etc., etc., etc. Shurtleff College, Upper £rj 
5 Alton, Illinois, bought 100 copies of the book. Dr. R. C. Burleson, Presi- 

dent Waco University, Texas, wrote: "Send me 50 copies and will sell H 

-S them." Rev. J. H. Boyett, a leading pastor in Texas, wrote: "Send me M 

-«— one dozen copies and I will soon sell them." Rev. S. A. Taft, D. D., pastor p 

^ — | Baptist Church, Santa Rosa, Cal., after buying and reading the book, recom- GC 
f=* mended it to his Sunday-school, upon which it was adopted into its library. 

|=j On examining it, Rev. Dr. Horton, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, y 

f=*i Oakland, Cal., purchased it. Such sample facts mean something. m 

pa Public libraries, of all kinds, may do well to supply themselves with the q 
U=j book. 

m To any address it will be mailed, on receipt of the > 

price, $1.50. W 

cd 

J Address, REV. W. A. JARREL, ^ 

-J DALLAS, TEXAS. 

52 



Ji^Old Testament Ethics is not for sale in book stores and ' 

book houses. 3 

Do you not owe it to sinners, to Christ and to his Cause to meet £ 
the influence of infidel books and tracts, by circulating a book that 

^ the ablest scholars agree is a preventive and an antidote against % 

H infidelity? £ 

r: w 

T-i O 

(ft) On application, especial terms will be sent to those who bny sev- ^ 
)JJ\ eral copies, or who desire Agencies of the book. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS ^ 




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